UPDATED at 12:59 p.m. with Dasher pleading not guilty and being assigned a public defender.

St. Louis County Lt. Gary Guinn knew he wasn't dealing with a normal missing child case within 10 minutes of arriving Tuesday at the home of Shelby Dasher and her mother, Christine Dasher.

Christine Dasher was hysterical. Shelby Dasher, 20, was calm — not the expected reaction from a woman who had just reported that her 1-year-old son, Tyler, had vanished from his crib, Guinn said.

"I've been doing this for so long, you just get the feel for what you're dealing with when you have that initial contact with people," said the police veteran of 37 years. "And on this one, I didn't get a good feel for the mother. … The story she initially gave us was just bizarre, and her behavior was even worse. When you put those two things together, within 10 minutes we knew."

Guinn also predicted Shelby Dasher would confess to the crime, said Chief Tim Fitch.

Ultimately, Guinn's gut was right.

Detectives say Shelby Dasher told them that when she couldn't get Tyler to stay quiet in his crib, she repeatedly struck him on the head and body, causing his death. She said she then hid Tyler's body in bushes in a wooded area about a mile from her home near New St. Marcus Cemetery, according to court documents.

The medical examiner determined Tyler died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Authorities would not say whether Tyler was still alive when his mother dumped his body.

Dasher was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

On Thursday morning, she appeared in St. Louis County Circuit Court and pleaded not guilty and was assigned a public defender.  A preliminary hearing on the matter was set for Jan. 5.  She attended the hearing alone, and no family members or supporters were in the courtroom to see her, a court clerk said.

St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch told reporters at a press conference that officials are not aware of any prior acts of abuse of Tyler.

The second-degree murder charge represents a "hot-blooded murder," as opposed to first-degree, which would be a "cold-blooded murder" involving cool deliberation first, he said.

A RARE ACT

Guinn spent the first 21 years of his law enforcement career as a St. Louis police officer. He worked as a child abuse detective for 14 years in the city. He joined the county's child abuse unit in 1995 and was promoted to a watch commander in the county's Affton precinct about nine months ago.

He happened to be on duty when the call came in Tuesday from the Dasher home, in the 7700 block of Clevedon Street.

Shelby Dasher told Guinn that she put the baby to bed at 6 p.m. Monday and left about 10:30 p.m. to go out with some male friends. Her mother was home with the child. Shelby Dasher said she got home about 2:30 a.m. and checked on Tyler.

Christine Dasher left for work about 7:30 a.m. Shelby Dasher told Guinn that she went to wake the baby at 11 a.m. because he had been sleeping for so long. That's when she said she discovered the child was missing and called police, Guinn said.

"No 1-year-old ever sleeps that long. It didn't make any sense," Guinn said. "She also told me that the child could walk but could not get out of the crib by himself. There was no indication of forced entry to the house."

That's when Guinn called in the reinforcements. Dozens of county officers began to search the surrounding area, by helicopter, on foot and on patrol. At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, a man and a woman walking their dogs along the cemetery just off River Des Peres Boulevard discovered the child's body.

Guinn saw Tyler's body, but would not comment on it.

Guinn said he's investigated hundreds of child abuse cases in his career, some fatal. That Shelby Dasher carried the child through the woods before leaving him near the tree line is unusual.

"It's rare to see a person afterwards be as cold as she was to carry this child off and throw him into the woods," he said. "That's rare for somebody who has lost it and got frustrated with a child and abused the child to see them take the body and abandon them."

Guinn was not present when Dasher confessed, but said her confession said something of her character.

"I tell new people that if they have no conscience, they're not going to tell us anything," Guinn said. "In this particular case, she obviously had a conscience. Now, does it mean she's any less cold? No. When you do that to your child, you are a sick person and it's very cold-blooded."

Guinn noted that several non-profit groups as well state agencies exist to help parents in crisis.

"These young parents get frustrated and I understand that as we all do, but there is so much help out there," he said. "She could have called Children's Services. The message needs to get out there that there is options. It is so frustrating to see such a cute little boy like that when there are so many people out there trying to have children and something like this happens."

'STILL IN SHOCK'

Tyler's father, Joe Ellington, 23, lives in south St. Louis County.

His parents, Johnny and Shirley Ellington, filed for guardianship of their son in March. In court records, Joe Ellington was listed as incapacitated-disabled.

Shirley Ellington answered the door Wednesday holding her hand over a face red from tears, saying she was too upset to talk to a reporter.

"Not now," she said. "We're about to make funeral arrangements."

On Oct. 13, 2010, Shelby Dasher sought an order of protection against Ellington in St. Louis County Circuit Court. She wrote that the day before, Ellington came into her home on Clevedon and asked to use her cellphone.

"I asked him to leave and he didn't. He got mad (and) snapped my cellphone. I asked him to leave again, he got madder and pushed me to the ground and he left. I'm scared of him because he pushed me to the ground. And I have a 2-week-old son in the house. And also his mental health is unstable."

After a hearing on Oct. 25, a judge issued the order and told Ellington to stay away from Dasher and not communicate with her, but on Nov. 22, it was dismissed at Dasher's request.

Among the favorite shows listed on Shelby Dasher's Facebook page are the MTV reality show "Teen Mom" and "First 48 Hours," an apparent reference to the A&E documentary series "The First 48," which follows the initial hours of homicide investigations.

On Wednesday night, hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight vigil at the wooded area along River Des Peres Boulevard where Tyler's body was found.

Family friends and well-wishers placed dozens of stuffed animals and balloons, signs and pictures of Tyler beneath a tree and observed a moment of silence in the boy's honor. Many who attended pushed small children in strollers or carried bundled-up toddlers clutching blankets. A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace."

"This vigil here's not about anger and hate, this is a gathering to respect this unfortunate event," said Wayne Scott II, one of the organizers of the vigil who said a few words before those in attendance. "We hope we can prevent these types of things from happening in the future."

After the moment of silence, a small group walked through crunching leaves to gather around the large shrub where the boy's body was discovered.

"We came to support the baby," said Loretta Lebbing, 21, of Affton, who knows a friend of Dasher. "It's just sad in general to think that a child lost his life."

Dozens of Dasher's friends, including the men she had hung out with hours before police say she killed her son, were standing nearby at the family home on Tuesday as word of Tyler's disappearance spread.

Hayle Cacciatore, 18, said she had been friends with Shelby since high school.

"It's all a blur to me," she said. "I'm still in shock."

She said Tyler's first word was "duck" and that Shelby gave him a rubber ducky that he always played with.

"He always used to laugh, he would never cry unless he needed a bottle or to be changed," she said. "She was nice and a very independent mother and did everything she could for him. I have no idea what went wrong. I just wish she would have reached out."

So does Guinn.

Valerie Schremp Hahn, Patrick M. O'Connell and Denise Hollinshed contributed to this report.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: St. Louis County Lt. Gary Guinn was not present for Dasher's confession. An earlier version of this story was incorrect because of an omitted word. This version has been corrected.