Parents charged after five-year-old found buried in shallow grave
Authorities searching for a missing five-year-old Illinois boy who had lived in deplorable conditions dug up his body on Wednesday and charged his parents with murder, declaring that the youngster would “no longer have to suffer.”
The body, believed to be that of Andrew “AJ” Freund, was covered in plastic and buried in a shallow grave in a rural area of Woodstock in McHenry County, Crystal Lake police chief James Black said.
Chief Black said investigators went to the site after they interviewed the boy’s parents overnight and presented them with mobile phone evidence.
Woodstock is about 80 kilometres northwest of Chicago and a few kilometres from the family’s home in Crystal Lake.
“This is not the outcome that we want to talk about … but it is the unfortunate result,” said Jeffrey Sallet, who runs the FBI in northern Illinois.
The parents, JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr each face charges of first-degree murder and other crimes.
An email seeking comment was sent to Cunningham’s lawyer. It wasn’t immediately known if Freund has a lawyer.
The couple reported AJ missing last Thursday (local time), telling officers they had last seen him at bedtime the previous night.
Freund told a dispatcher that they’d checked “closets, the basement, the garage, everywhere,” but investigators quickly knocked down the possibility of a kidnapping.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Black had a message for AJ’s relatives “It is my hope that you may have some solace in knowing that AJ is no longer suffering and his killers have been brought to justice.”
Home littered with dog faeces
Crystal Lake police had visited the house over the years, according to records released by the department.
One report described the home as littered with dog feaces and urine, including a child’s bedroom where the “smell of feaces was overwhelming.”
Another report said the house was “cluttered, dirty and in disrepair,” and sometimes without electricity.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) had contact with the family since AJ was born with opiates in his body in 2013.
The Northwest Herald said he was in foster care for two years before being returned to his parents.
A younger brother was removed from the home last week.
Black said the cause of AJ’s death remains under investigation. Police removed several items from the home, including a shovel, mattress, paper bags and a plastic storage tub.
“We know you are at peace playing in heaven’s playground and are happy you no longer have to suffer,” the police chief said in a public message intended for the boy.
DCFS acting director Marc Smith said AJ’s death was “heartbreaking.”
“The department is committed to conducting a comprehensive review of the entirety of our work with Andrew’s family to understand our shortcomings and to be fully transparent with the public on any steps we are taking to address the issues,” Smith said in a written statement.
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