Parents hid body of 16-year-old son they said ran away, Arizona sheriff says

Parents who told deputies their 16-year-old son ran away have been arrested after his body was found hidden behind a stone wall, Arizona sheriff’s officials reported.

On Feb. 25, the parents, both 41, reported their son had run away from home in Kingman, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said in a March 6 news release.

Three days later, deputies discovered the 16-year-old’s body wrapped in a blanket behind a stone wall at a location about 5 miles away from the home, the release said.

Later still, on Thursday, March 2, the mother called authorities to report she’d just rescued her 14-year-old daughter from the couple’s adult roommates, deputies said.

During the investigation, the parents admitted to falsely reporting their son as a runaway and hiding his body, the release said.

They were arrested on a charge of abandoning or concealing a dead body, sheriff’s officials said.

One of their roommates also were arrested on charges including child abuse and aggravated assault, the release said. He’s accused of shooting the 14-year-old girl in the eye with a BB gun, officials said.

An autopsy of the 16-year-old was performed Saturday, March 4, and an official cause of death remains pending. The investigation into his death continues, the release said.

Kingman is a city of 33,000 people near the border with California and Nevada, about 200 miles northwest of Phoenix.

This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Parents hid body of 16-year-old son they said ran away, Arizona sheriff says."