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The search for 10-year-old Kentucky boy Jayden Spicer has come to a tragic conclusion.
Kentucky State Police confirmed that the boy’s remains were found in a shallow grave along Canoe Road in Breathitt County at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, August 12. Trooper Matt Gayheart said at a Wednesday press conference that Jayden’s body is being transported to the medical examiner’s office in Frankfort for an autopsy.
Gayheart said that Spicer’s mother, Felicia Gross, 33, has been taken into custody and charged with manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and falsely reporting an incident. She is being held at the Kentucky River Regional Jail, according to jail records.
The search for Jayden began nearly a week before his body was found, when his family reported him missing from their Jackson home on Wednesday, August 6, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. The 10-year-old was last seen at around 9 p.m. the night before. He was wearing Sonic the Hedgehog pajamas.
Felicia Gross pleaded for help
Felicia reportedly wrote a statement to the public just a day after her son was reported missing, according to Fox 56. In the handwritten statement, Gross said that she wants her son to be “safe at home.”
“Please if anybody see my son Jayden Spicer please report it to the Jackson Police Department. Thank you. We love him very much. Please do the right thing call the police please pray for us and my son Jayden thank you,” the statement continued.
Trooper Gayheart said in an August 8 Facebook post that Kentucky State Police had “thoroughly searched all areas of priority and continue to exhaust all resources at their disposal,” but had yet to find the 10-year-old.
What happened to Jayden Spicer?
A break in the case came on Tuesday, August 12, when the State Police “received new information related to the disappearance” of Jayden that helped them identify a new area to search, according to a separate Facebook statement from Trooper Gayheart. That’s when Jayden’s remains were found and the case changed from a missing person investigation to an active criminal investigation.
Gayheart added that in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, specific details in the case won’t be released at this time.
“I would like to take a moment to thank the many different organizations that assisted in the search efforts for Jayden,” Trooper Gayheart said. “All of the volunteers that spent numerous hours and days trying to locate him. Thank you to every person that sent tips or even shared a social media post. Thank you for the many prayers that were prayed, and we ask that you continue to pray for a community that grieves during this tragic loss.”
