In a tragic development out of Texas, the parents of a 26-year-old man with special needs have been arrested after his body was discovered in a shallow grave in their backyard. Authorities have charged Jonathan James Mitchell and December Marie Mitchell with tampering or fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse, following the death of their son, Jonathan Kinman, according to official statements.

The Burleson Police Department disclosed in a press release on Monday that officers responded to a welfare check on Tuesday, October 14, at a home located on the 400 block of White Oak Lane, approximately 40 miles southwest of Dallas. The request came from a concerned caller who wanted a check on Kinman, who resided there with his parents.

During the welfare visit, police gathered “information” that suggested Kinman “might be deceased” and possibly “buried in the backyard of the residence,” prompting further investigation.

On the morning of Wednesday, October 15, with assistance from Texas Rangers, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the Mitchells’ property. Their investigation led them to uncover a shallow grave in the backyard, where they recovered human remains later confirmed to be those of Kinman.

The remains were then transferred to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, which took place on Thursday, October 16, authorities reported.

“The autopsy results are still pending, and a cause of death has not yet been determined,” the release states.

December and Jonathan Mitchell were taken to the Johnson County Jail for processing. They are currently being held in detention on bonds of $250,000 each, records show. It was not immediately clear when they were scheduled to appear in court.

Police declined to provide Law&Crime with any additional details about the case, stating that the city had determined that such information dealt with “the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime,” and the release of such records “would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of an open or pending criminal matter.”