Since the day Lucas Hernandez disappeared on February 17, his stepmother, Emily Glass, has been in the hot seat, given that she was the last person to see the boy. While sitting in jail on a child endangerment charge, she opened to a local Wichita reporter about Lucas’ disappearance, publicly for the first time.

FactFinder12 Investigator Devon Fasbinder spoke with Glass, 26, on Wednesday afternoon, in hopes of getting information that would help find the boy, whose been since missing for 11 days. Glass previously told police she took a shower and then a nap at around 3 p.m. on the day in question. She said when she woke up, the back door of the family home in Wichita was open and Lucas was nowhere in sight. He’s still missing.

When Fasbinder asked Glass if she hurt Lucas in any way, she denied it and said she would never harm him and has no idea where he is.

“I did not. I would never hurt my son…..He’s like a son, you know? I may not have given birth to him, but he’s my baby boy. I take care of him every day, you know?”

Shortly after Lucas’ disappearance, the boy’s great aunt, Sherry Rasmussen, handed over photos of him to KAKE News, which showed numerous bruises on various parts of his body. Rasmussen said the bruises were likely from physical abuse, and that she reported it to the Department of Children’s Services, yet nothing was ever done to protect Lucas.

Glass said that the bruises were not from abuse, but instead, the results of Lucas playing too roughly and being a little boy.

“There’s been times he’s being a boy and playing with older brothers and his cousins. He gets bruises. He has had some falls,” Glass explained.

“A majority of the time when he had gotten hurt and ended up with bruises, he wasn’t under my care,” she continued. “Because I would send him off with my cousins and there’s older boys there and he’s a very little, small boy and he could get hurt easily and when he’s playing with older boys who are like 10 years old, even though we’d say hey Lucas be careful. We had to tell him all the time you know, be careful.”

Glass also said she isn’t concerned with the people who think she hurt Lucas. She claimed it was “on them” and the only thing she is concerned about is finding the child. She also explained that two strangers stood outside her home a few days before Lucas disappeared, which she “kept thinking about” after Lucas disappeared.

She said she didn’t know the people and when she offered them assistance, they acted offended. In turn, she reportedly took a photo of the pair send sent it to Johnathan Hernandez, Lucas’ father.

“I keep thinking and I keep thinking what could have happened, you know. And I keep thinking back to these two people that were outside of my house a few days prior. A black man and white woman….I went out there to be like hey is everything okay? Do you need to come inside? Are you stranded? They were just like, no and just like looked at me like I offended them or something.”

Authorities couldn’t verify any details involving the photo since the investigation is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, Lucas remains missing. As CrimeOnline previously reported, he was last seen on Saturday at around 3 p.m. at his home off of the 600 block of south Edgemoor, near Lincoln.

According to the Missing Pieces Network, a non-profit organization that assists in finding missing persons, Glass was taking care of Lucas and his toddler sister when he vanished.

Lucas’ father, who drove home after learning the boy was missing, said that all of his son’s belongings, including his shoes and jacket, were still in the home. The child’s biological mother was reportedly in the another state when he disappeared.

Lucas is described 4 feet tall and weighs around 60 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing white socks, black pants, and a grey shirt with a teddy bear on the front. He also has a cleft palate and a speech impediment. His family reported that it’s not typical for the boy to wander off.

Anyone with information on Lucas’ whereabout is urged to contact tip line at 316-383-4661.

[Feature Photo: Lucas Hernandez/Family Handout]