Neighbor recalls first - and last - time he saw missing 5-year-old child

Hesham Tiflati lives with his wife and two young children next to the corner house where Lucas Hernandez was reported missing.

Tiflati, 41, saw 5-year-old Lucas once outside the South Edgemoor house on Sunday, Feb. 11 – six days before the boy’s stepmother reported him missing. This is what Tiflati remembers:

The stepmother spotted toys in Tiflati’s front yard and brought her children out to meet the Tiflati children. She said they had moved in that Wednesday, Feb. 7. Tiflati never saw them move in. College students had lived there before.

“She wanted the kids to meet the kids.”

Emily Glass, Lucas’ stepmom introduced three children to his children: She had two older boys, ages 7 and 6, and Lucas, 5. She also mentioned that she had a 1-year-old girl.

The older boys were playing swords with rake handles. Relatives said that Glass has two boys from a previous relationship.

Lucas seemed shy and kept to himself to the side. He wore a light jacket and kept his hands in his pockets.

The children played for about an hour in the front yard between the two houses, in the 600 block of South Edgemoor.

Tiflati said his wife, who was outside with the children the whole time, doesn’t remember Lucas saying anything.

Tiflati’s wife mentioned to him later that same day that Lucas had a bluish bruise under his left eye.

At the time, they didn’t think the bruise was a sign of abuse. They thought it must have been an accident. They’ve seen their own children get bruises on their faces from mishaps.

Another observation: “He was skinnier than the picture” police provided to the public, Tiflati said.

That was the only time Tiflati saw Lucas.

He forgot the stepmother’s name after she introduced herself but recognized her as the woman identified as Emily Glass, who was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of endangering Lucas and a 1-year-old child, according to police. Lucas remains missing.

Tiflati had at one point seen a man outside the house where Lucas had moved but wasn’t sure who he was. The man was standing with the stepmother, and they were smoking. “We just assumed the lady was single.”

Feb. 17, the Saturday that the stepmother reported Lucas missing, the weather was fairly nice, Tiflati recalled. His children were in their backyard that day, and he and his wife were outside from time to time working on a dining room table.

They can see into the backyard of the house where Lucas had moved. They never saw anyone in the back yard next door that Saturday.

That Saturday evening, Glass, the stepmother, showed up at his front door holding her 1-year-old girl. She knocked twice, and when he answered, she said: “Did you see my little son? Call 911.”

“She was nervous. Her hands were shaking. … Nothing suspicious. She looked like somebody who lost their kid.”

Then she ran back to her house, holding her girl.

He put on a jacket and went next door, where she was talking to police on a cellphone.

“She said she looked everywhere.”

A police officer arrived and asked whether she had a dog inside before he began looking around the house with a flashlight.

Police cars and fire trucks showed up and drove around the neighborhood.

Tiflati said police and FBI agents have interviewed him and he told them about seeing the bruise under Lucas’ eye. Agents asked whether he and his family saw anything suspicious that Saturday. They didn’t.

This story was originally published February 23, 2018 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Neighbor recalls first - and last - time he saw missing 5-year-old child."