Police: Skeletal remains identified as those of missing boy

BUCKEYE, Ariz. — Police opened a homicide investigation Tuesday after skeletal remains were found in an irrigation ditch and identified as those of a 10-year-old boy who disappeared from his suburban Phoenix home nearly two years ago.

At a news conference, Buckeye Detective Tamela Skaggs confirmed that remains found off of State Highway 85 earlier this month are those of Jesse Wilson. She said without knowing the cause of death, investigators don’t know if there was foul play at this time, but the case will be treated as a homicide.

“Any time we have a case with a dead body we will investigate that as a homicide,” she said.

She said police have yet to rule out any suspects.

Investigators don’t know how long Wilson’s remains were in the area near a state highway, or how they wound up there, Skaggs said. That area was searched in the summer of 2016, but was covered by water at the time.

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It’s unclear how long Wilson’s remains were at the site, she said.

“There is the weather we have to consider and landscape, animal activity,” she said. “All those things come into play with that specific desert area.”

Buckeye Police Chief Larry Hall said the discovery of Wilson’s remains was the “worst outcome we could possibly imagine.”

“I wish I could say it’s closure but it’s not because we haven’t found the person responsible,” he said.

FBI agent Lance Leising said the agency is helping Buckeye police investigators with additional interviewers, evidence experts and strategy advice.

The boy disappeared from his home in the early morning of July 18, 2016, in a Buckeye neighbourhood, located about 35 miles (56 kilometres) west of Phoenix.

Police treated it as a runaway case because the boy’s adoptive mother, Crystal Wilson, told investigators that he suffered from “learning and developmental issues” and was taking medication. She said he had slipped out of his second-floor bedroom window overnight in the past.

Skaggs confirmed that Crystal Wilson has been notified, and that Wilson’s biological father came forward when the remains were located. She also said Wilson’s siblings are currently in foster care, and that Crystal Wilson is living out of state.

The FBI, Buckeye Police and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office personnel searched for the boy for weeks following his disappearance. Drones, U.S. Border Patrol tracking dogs and citizen volunteers also searched.

The partial human skeletal remains were found March 8 about six miles from the boy’s home by a municipal worker. A subsequent search of the area uncovered additional remains.

The remains were submitted for forensic analysis and positively identified as Jesse Wilson, police said.

Melissa Daniels, The Associated Press