BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The stays of a 12-year-old boy who went lacking in 2020 have been discovered inside a Buffalo home, and the demise is being investigated as a murder, police mentioned Monday.
Jaylen Griffin was final seen on Aug. 4, 2020, when he left his East Buffalo house for a close-by comfort retailer at about 11 a.m. His physique was discovered Friday in a home about 5 miles away (8 kilometers), in South Buffalo.
He had been lifeless “for a substantial period of time,” Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia mentioned at a information convention.
The stays had been discovered by somebody who had cause to be within the occupied, multi-family home however didn’t stay there, in keeping with the commissioner. He declined to supply extra particulars concerning the physique’s location or situation.
Jaylen’s identification was confirmed via the usage of dental information on Monday, he mentioned.
After his disappearance, the boy’s image appeared on billboards and flyers that promised rewards for data. Household and neighbors prayed at candlelit vigils and police adopted up on quite a few ideas, together with some from psychics who contacted investigators, Gramaglia mentioned.
“There’s a number of organizations and teams and other people which have been diligently looking for over three and a half years to search out Jaylen, and sadly, the end result shouldn’t be what we wished,” he mentioned.
Three months after Jaylen went lacking, his 18-year-old brother, Jawaan Griffin, was fatally shot throughout the road from his home, police mentioned.
Jawaan and Jaylen’s mom, Joann Ponzo, died in September at age 48, after an sickness that acquaintances mentioned was compounded by grief, in keeping with native media.
An post-mortem that would yield clues about Jaylen’s demise is predicted to take months, performing Erie County District Legal professional Michael Keane mentioned.
“This can be a tragedy and it’s a horrible strategy to deliver this search to a conclusion,” Keane mentioned. “This now begins a murder investigation.”
A candlelight vigil is deliberate for April 22, on what would have been Jaylen’s sixteenth birthday.
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