SMITHFIELD, N.C. – In a harrowing case that has shocked the community, a North Carolina man is facing charges for the alleged murder of four of his children. Authorities revealed on Wednesday that the killings, which came to light after human remains were discovered in a vehicle at the family’s residence, may have spanned several months.

Wellington Delano Dickens III, 38, was charged on Tuesday with four counts of murder. According to the sheriff’s office, Dickens is believed to have killed three of his biological children, aged 6, 9, and 10, as well as his 18-year-old stepchild.

The tragedy unfolded when Dickens contacted Johnston County 911 late Monday, allegedly confessing to the murders of his children. Sheriff’s deputies responding to the call found Dickens at his home near Zebulon, approximately 25 miles east of Raleigh. Dickens reportedly informed the deputies that the bodies of the four children were in a vehicle parked in his garage, according to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.

Initial arrest warrants indicated that the deaths occurred on May 1. However, Sheriff Steve Bizzell stated during a Wednesday press conference in Smithfield that further investigations suggest the children were killed at different times.

According to Sheriff Bizzell, the timeline of the killings is believed to be as follows: the 6-year-old in May, the 9-year-old in August, the 10-year-old in late August or early September, and the 18-year-old in September. The state medical examiner’s office is working to determine the exact cause of death for each child.

Bizzell said he didn’t yet know why Dickens killed the children, “but as the sheriff, as a father and as a grandfather, I can stand here and say there’s no reason for a father to murder his children.”

Dickens is being held without bond in advance of a Wednesday afternoon hearing on three of the counts. He made his first court appearance Tuesday on the first murder count. Records show he would be appointed an attorney, but a name was not immediately listed.

Johnston County District Attorney Jason Waller said the investigation remains active and ongoing.

The deputies who responded to Dickens’ 911 call found his 3-year-old son alive inside the home, as Dickens had told them they would, authorities said. The sheriff’s office said the 3-year-old was unharmed.

The deputies discovered human bodies in the trunk and they appeared to have died some time ago, Bizzell said.

Dickens’ great uncle told a television station Tuesday that Dickens was an Iraq War veteran.

Some neighbors said Tuesday that they didn’t remember seeing the family, especially after Dickens’ wife, Stephanie Rae Jones Dickens, died in April 2024. Authorities had determined she died from complications from a miscarriage, and doctors ruled her death as natural, Bizzell said.

Asked how the children’s deaths were concealed for so long, sheriff’s Capt. Don Pate said the family members “were just very secluded” and that Dickens’ extended family was not welcome to visit.

“The neighbors said they never saw them come outside, and they were homeschooled, so they were just confined to the house,” Pate said.

Bizzell said deputies went to the same Zebulon home with emergency workers when Stephanie Dickens died last year. The sheriff said it was determined then that she had experienced excessive bleeding the night prior but refused to go for medical treatment.