Kentucky Boy Found Dead Near Where His Mother Was Thrown Off A Cliff
JACKSON COUNTY, K.Y. — (WBIR) — A 5-year-old Kentucky boy has been found dead, just two days after he and his mother were kidnapped and she was thrown off a cliff, according to Kentucky State Police.
Early Saturday, investigators said hikers found Jessica Durham at the bottom of an 80-foot-cliff near Sparks Ridge Road in Jackson County. The county is located off I-75 north of London.
Durham had serious, but not life-threatening injuries. She told police that she and her son, James Spoonamore, had been kidnapped by Lonnie Belt, 42, of McKee.
Her family told WLEX that Belt was a family friend, and a dispute over money led to the kidnapping and assault.
“She got hit in the head two or three times, her hands got tied behind her back. She got blind folded and then she was put into a vehicle and she could hear James going, ‘mommy, you’re bleeding,'” the boy’s aunt said.
Durham told police she last saw her son before Bell forced her over the cliff.
Police arrested Belt on Saturday and charged him with assault, kidnapping, and tampering with evidence.
A search began immediately for James with multiple agencies and hundreds of volunteers. Riders on horseback, helicopters, and K-9 units joined the search efforts.
The boy’s body was found Monday morning, about half a mile from where his mother was found. An autopsy will determine how he died.
More charges will likely be filed against Belt, according to KSP.
DNA confirms remains are those of 3-year-old Evan Brewer
People gathered on South Vine in front of the house where 3-year-old Evan Brewer’s body was found in a concrete structure last week.
Wichita police on Monday confirmed that human remains found at a home in south Wichita are those of 3-year-old Evan Brewer.
According to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center, DNA results positively identified the remains, police said in a news release Monday afternoon.
Evan, who is a grandson of former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, was remembered at a vigil Sunday evening outside the house where his body was found.
The boy’s remains were discovered Sept. 2 at a home in the 2000 block of South Vine. Evan lived there with his mother, Miranda Miller, and her boyfriend, Stephen Bodine.
Miller and Bodine remain in jail on charges not directly related to the death.
“The property owner was cleaning out his rental property and alerted police to a suspicious concrete structure that was emitting an odor,” the police statement said. “Police removed the concrete structure from the house and later found the remains of Evan inside the concrete structure.”
Police are not releasing any more information in their ongoing investigation, the statement said.
Wichita police Lt. Jeff Gilmore gives a briefing on the death of 3-year-old Evan Brewer. His body was found on Saturday.