S.C. father detained in Mississippi. His five children were found dead in Alabama.
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Version 0 of 1. A South Carolina man pulled over by Mississippi cops at a drunk-driving checkpoint is a suspect in the deaths of his five children, whose bodies were found in garbage bags off an Alabama road after the father reportedly confessed to authorities, Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton told the Clarion-Ledger. Timothy Ray Jones Jr., 32, had five children aged 1 to 8 years old, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s office in South Carolina. Jones is divorced from their mother, who reported the children missing a week ago. The mother told Lexington County deputies that she couldn’t reach her ex-husband, who had custody. Jones told his neighbors that he was moving out of state with the kids, law enforcement officials added. Jones and his five kids were then entered into the National Crime Information Center database for missing persons, with their last known whereabouts in Lexington County. The next time anyone saw Jones, his kids weren’t with him: On Saturday night, police officers in Mississippi detained Jones at the checkpoint and charged him with driving under the influence. Here’s what happened next, according to the Associated Press : Crumpton said Jones became agitated when a deputy questioned him about an odor of chemicals coming from the Cadillac Escalade he was driving. The deputy found what were believed to be chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine and a substance believed to be the street drug Spice, a form of synthetic marijuana, Crumpton said. A sheriff’s office investigator was called and found what appeared to be bleach, muriatic acid, blood and possible body fluids, he said. Crumpton said Jones became agitated when a deputy questioned him about an odor of chemicals coming from the Cadillac Escalade he was driving. The deputy found what were believed to be chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine and a substance believed to be the street drug Spice, a form of synthetic marijuana, Crumpton said. A sheriff’s office investigator was called and found what appeared to be bleach, muriatic acid, blood and possible body fluids, he said. When county law enforcement ran a background check on Jones, the missing persons reports turned up. Jones eventually told investigators the location of the bodies, leading to search effort in a wide section of rural Alabama. Officials haven’t released the causes of death for the five children. The investigation involves multiple law enforcement agencies from Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi, along with the FBI. Wilcox County District Attorney Michael Jackson told WFSA that the children were likely killed in South Carolina, which means that Jones will probably face charges there rather than in Alabama. At the moment, he’s in Smith County custody. Jones is already wanted in South Carolina on a child welfare charge. Daniel Jones, the Smith County District Attorney, told NBC News that the suspect claimed his children were plotting to kill him. |