Arizona couple caught by police after hiding the body of their teen son, 16, who they said ran away from home. Arrested by the police is Amber-Leah Valentine, her husband, John Imes, with a third individual accused of assault and child abuse connected to the death.
Arizona Couple Deceives Police About Teen Son
In Mohave County, Arizona, the sheriff's office stated the parents told its deputies that February 24 at 10 am was the last time he was seen. About three days later, the body was tipped to be at Kingman in the area of Anson Smith Road and Indian Canyon Road, reported Meaww.
The suspects reside in Kingman City at the 2300 block of Packard Avenue and said their teenage son had run away. On February 28, detectives dispatched to the scene revealed that a dead white male in a blanket was placed in the back of a stone wall, said the Mohave County Medical Examiner's Office. It was a John Doe with an autopsy scheduled to check for the cause of death, noted Fox 2.
The boy's death is unknown, but development came on Thursday when Valentine called the Mohave County office. She said that her teen daughter, 14, had been freed by her. Identified as Richard Pounds, 34, and the female roommate hostage the girl as claimed, but the woman was not charged or identified, cited Law and Crime.
Valentine and the girl were brought to the Kingman Regional Medical Center, where Valentine confessed about her son. She informed that she and Imes took the body to the location and said that she lied about the victim running away. The boy was dead at the time the officer spoke to her.
While in the hospital getting treated when the girl told the detectives of the abuse heaped by Pounds. She was shot with a BB gun and got abused too. The Arizona Department of Child Safety has secured the girl as well.
Charges Against Valentines and Imes
Authorities wasted no time apprehending the two for concealing a felony, hiding a dead body when brought to the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility.
The police served a search warrant at their residence to look for evidence about the boy's death and interrogated Pounds and the woman when in police custody.
Right after Pound got charged and arrested for felony child abuse with aggravated assault when placed in the same detention as Valentines and Imes said, the police. But the female was released from now.
Despite the sidebar regarding the abuse of the girl that was settled, matters about the boy's death were still in play.
Last Monday, March 6, the autopsy resulted in more charges against the accused. An Arizona couple resorted to hiding the body of their teen son, whose death is still unknown. Neither of the accused is saying how he died.
