NEWS

Father leads law enforcement to bodies of five children

Scott Johnson, Montgomery Advertiser

A South Carolina man accused of killing his five children and dumping them in rural Alabama led authorities to the scene Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities found the bodies of the five children at around 3 p.m., where they had been left on a dirt road off Ala. 10 near the Oak Hill Community in Wilcox County, said Alabama Law Enforcement Agency spokesman Sgt. Steve Jarrett.

Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty said charges are pending against Timothy Ray Jones, Jr., 32, of Lexington, in connection with the disappearance of his five children, ages 1 to 8.

The suspect led the authorities to the scene after being arrested in Mississippi.

Sheriff Charlie Crumpton of Smith County, Mississippi, said the father of the children confessed Tuesday to killing them, then led authorities to their bodies, The Clarion-Ledger reported.

Law enforcement officers in Mississippi detained Jones on Saturday night at a driver's license checkpoint, Crumpton said. Officers determined that he was under the influence and got him out of the vehicle. When they ran his license, nothing came up, but when they ran his tag, it registered a hit with NCIC.

He was taken in on charges of DUI and possession of a controlled substance, Crumpton said.

"I'm a father of two, and I can't imagine what goes through a man's head when he does this. It was a horrible, horrible crime," Crumpton said. "As tragic as it is, and it's terribly tragic, at least it didn't last long. We had to get some closure for their mother."

South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and FBI officials were on the scene Tuesday afternoon.

Jarrett said he could not say how the children were killed.

"The investigation is ongoing. It is early, and it would be premature to speculate," Jarrett said.

Lexington County Coroner Earl Wells was making arrangements on Tuesday to transport what detectives think are five sets of human remains from Camden to Lexington County in order to conduct autopsies on the remains and positively identify the remains.

Jarrett said law enforcement will be at the scene for as long as it takes.

"It is going to be a very detailed processing to ensure that the case is as solid as possible," he said.

The five children lived at a home near Lexington with Jones, who is the children's primary legal custodian although he had joint custody of the children with his ex-wfe.

The children's mother reported Jones and his five children missing to the Sheriff's Department on Sept 3.

The five children were last seen in Lexington County with Jones, who has joint custody of the children. Jones is divorced from the children's mother.

Neighbors told deputies that Jones said he was moving with his children from his home near Lexington to another state.