The Mississippi Link Newswire
Bodies of 5 children found in garbage bags near Greenville, Alabama will be transported to South Carolina. The bodies of five missing children from Lexington County have been found buried in individual garbage bags in Wilcox County Alabama.
Butler County Alabama Sheriff Kenny Harden did not say how the children died, but the father is already in custody.
The children’s father, Timothy Ray Jones Jr., was arrested Saturday in Raleigh, Mississippi at a driver’s license checkpoint.
Jones appeared to be under the influence when officers inspected his vehicle, and they also noted an odor of chemicals coming from his Cadillac Escalade. Deputies found what they believe are the chemicals used to make meth, and a synthetic form of marijuana.
Officers also found what appeared to be bleach, muriatic acid, blood, and possible body fluids in the car.
When deputies ran Jones tags after his arrest, they got a hit in the missing person’s database about the children. He was then arrested for DUI and possession of a controlled substance, and deputies in Smith County called South Carolina officials.
Lexington County deputies, along with State Law Enforcement Division and FBI agents, then traveled to Mississippi to take part in the investigation.
Crumpton says Jones confessed to officers late Monday night, and led them to where the bodies were, which was an area 10 miles east of Camden, Alabama. The bodies were found in five separate garbage bags, Crumpton says.
Wilcox County, Alabama, District Attorney Michael Jackson said all charges will be filed in South Carolina and the children’s bodies will be taken back to that state.
The children’s mother, who is divorced from Jones, reported the children — who are between the ages of 1 and 8 — missing back on September 3, WLTX reported. According to officers, the mother said she had been unable to contact her ex-husband or the children.
Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty says charges are pending against Jones. The county coroner is working to transport the remains back to Lexington County to be positively identified.
Jones was the children’s primary legal guardian and the children typically lived with him in Lexington, SC. Neighbors told deputies that the children’s father said he was moving with his children from his Lexington home to another state.
The children were not with the father when he was taken into custody. Earlier, deputies were searching an area in Butler County, Alabama for the children, according to TV station WAKA. Investigators said earlier that they suspected foul play in the children’s disappearance.
The children were entered in the national missing persons database. The identity of the children was not available.
Here is the complete press release from The Lexington County Sheriff:
Sheriff’s Department detectives, SLED agents and FBI agents in cooperation with local and state law enforcement agencies in other states actively are investigating the whereabouts of the five children, McCarty said. Detectives suspect foul play in the children’s disappearance. Detectives are searching for the children outside South Carolina.
The children’s mother, who is divorced from the children’s father, reported the five children missing to the Sheriff’s Department at 6:11 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, McCarty said. Deputies entered the five children and their father as missing persons on the National Crime Information Center computer database.
The mother of the five children told Sheriff’s Department deputies that she had been unable to contact her ex-husband, McCarty said. The mother also told deputies that there had been other occasions when she had been unable to contact her ex-husband. Neighbors told deputies that the children’s father said he was moving with his children from his home near Lexington to another state.
Law enforcement officers in another state detained the children’s father on Saturday night at a public safety checkpoint that the officers were conducting and contacted the Sheriff’s Department after determining that the father and his five children were listed as missing persons on the National Crime Information Center computer database, McCarty said. The five children were not with their father when officers detained the father.
