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This is so sad. 
I also heard later reports that he strangled the children. How could he do that?! And then treat them like trash?!
LEXINGTON - A Lexington County [SC] man has admitted to killing his five children, and traveling three states with their bodies in garbage bags before dumping them in Alabama, authorities said Wednesday.
Timothy Ray Jones, 32, confessed to Mississippi authorities that he had killed his children and dumped their bodies. On Tuesday, he led law enforcement to the children's resting place on a rural Alabama road.
Divorce records listed the five children as Merah, 8; Elias, 7; Nahtahn, 6; Gabriel, 2, and Elaine Marie, 1. Elaine Marie was born Abagail Elizabeth but the parents agreed to a name change, records show.
Jones had not given authorities a motive for the killings as of late Wednesday.
His father, Timothy Jones Sr., of Amory, Mississippi, said the family's hearts were broken, and he called his son a loving dad.
"We do not have all the answers, and we may never have them," he said in a statement outside his home. "But anyone who knows Little Tim will agree that he is not the animal he will be portrayed as through the media."
Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty said in all his years in law enforcement, he had never seen a case like this one.
Lexington County investigators on Wednesday showed reporters this composite picture of the five dead children. The children were not identified in the composite.
"We feel that he killed the five children at the same time," McCarty said. "He traveled three states with these children in garbage bags in the back of his vehicle ... I don't understand why he did, but yes these children were in garbage bags."
McCarty said the children were last seen Aug. 28, when Jones picked them up from school. Jones had primary custody of the children.
On Sept. 3, the mother reported the children missing, but said it wasn't unusual for her to have a difficult time in finding Jones.
Without a reason to believe the children were in danger, and because they were with their primary custodian, an Amber Alert was not issued, said SLED Chief Mark Keel. But a missing persons report was entered into a national database.
Three days later, Jones was stopped at a checkpoint in Smith County, Mississippi, authorities said.
The officer reported Jones seemed disoriented and was "a little bit on the violent side," McCarty said. Chemicals used to make methamphetamine, some synthetic marijuana, or Spice, and cleaning materials were found in Jones' 2006 Cadillac Escalade, McCarty said.
An officer said he also "smelled the stench of death."
Jones remained in Mississippi as of late Wednesday. He'll likely be extradited Thursday back to South Carolina, where five warrants of murder await him. So far, he has been charged with child neglect.
McCarty added the children's mother was a "sweet lady" who is in shock by the death of her children.
Jones had moved with the children to a neighborhood of mobile homes in Lexington after the couple's October 2013 divorce. They were married for about 10 years.
Records describe a messy divorce between Jones and the children's mother. She was having an affair with a neighbor, according to divorce papers.
A therapist who saw Jones more than two years ago described him as "highly intelligent" and responsible, yet emotionally devastated and angry over his wife's alleged infidelity, court records show.
Jones was an Intel engineer and made more than $70,000 a year at the time of his divorce.
Meanwhile, Department of Social Services Law Enforcement Liaison Jackie Swindler confirmed the agency had an open case with the family. A DSS worker and a Lexington County Sheriff officer interviewed Jones, the children and neighbors on Aug. 8, following a complaint made the previous day that Jones was abusing the children.
No physical signs of abuse were spotted on the children. A follow-up visit was scheduled by DSS, but authorities were already searching for the children before the caseworker could make a return visit, Swindler said.
The caseworker dispatched on Aug. 8 is a veteran staffer with more than 25 years of experience, said a source close to the investigation. And the worker had a caseload of 17 cases, totaling 34 children, a range well within recommended guidelines by the National Association of Social Workers.
DSS also had contact with the family in May, when they received a report of abuse. At the time, a child told the caseworker a sibling had slammed a door on the other, according to a source. DSS had not released the family's file as of Wednesday evening.
S.C. dad confessed to killing his 5 children, authorities say - Post and Courier
I also heard later reports that he strangled the children. How could he do that?! And then treat them like trash?!
LEXINGTON - A Lexington County [SC] man has admitted to killing his five children, and traveling three states with their bodies in garbage bags before dumping them in Alabama, authorities said Wednesday.
Timothy Ray Jones, 32, confessed to Mississippi authorities that he had killed his children and dumped their bodies. On Tuesday, he led law enforcement to the children's resting place on a rural Alabama road.
Divorce records listed the five children as Merah, 8; Elias, 7; Nahtahn, 6; Gabriel, 2, and Elaine Marie, 1. Elaine Marie was born Abagail Elizabeth but the parents agreed to a name change, records show.
Jones had not given authorities a motive for the killings as of late Wednesday.
His father, Timothy Jones Sr., of Amory, Mississippi, said the family's hearts were broken, and he called his son a loving dad.
"We do not have all the answers, and we may never have them," he said in a statement outside his home. "But anyone who knows Little Tim will agree that he is not the animal he will be portrayed as through the media."
Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty said in all his years in law enforcement, he had never seen a case like this one.
Lexington County investigators on Wednesday showed reporters this composite picture of the five dead children. The children were not identified in the composite.
"We feel that he killed the five children at the same time," McCarty said. "He traveled three states with these children in garbage bags in the back of his vehicle ... I don't understand why he did, but yes these children were in garbage bags."
McCarty said the children were last seen Aug. 28, when Jones picked them up from school. Jones had primary custody of the children.
On Sept. 3, the mother reported the children missing, but said it wasn't unusual for her to have a difficult time in finding Jones.
Without a reason to believe the children were in danger, and because they were with their primary custodian, an Amber Alert was not issued, said SLED Chief Mark Keel. But a missing persons report was entered into a national database.
Three days later, Jones was stopped at a checkpoint in Smith County, Mississippi, authorities said.
The officer reported Jones seemed disoriented and was "a little bit on the violent side," McCarty said. Chemicals used to make methamphetamine, some synthetic marijuana, or Spice, and cleaning materials were found in Jones' 2006 Cadillac Escalade, McCarty said.
An officer said he also "smelled the stench of death."
Jones remained in Mississippi as of late Wednesday. He'll likely be extradited Thursday back to South Carolina, where five warrants of murder await him. So far, he has been charged with child neglect.
McCarty added the children's mother was a "sweet lady" who is in shock by the death of her children.
Jones had moved with the children to a neighborhood of mobile homes in Lexington after the couple's October 2013 divorce. They were married for about 10 years.
Records describe a messy divorce between Jones and the children's mother. She was having an affair with a neighbor, according to divorce papers.
A therapist who saw Jones more than two years ago described him as "highly intelligent" and responsible, yet emotionally devastated and angry over his wife's alleged infidelity, court records show.
Jones was an Intel engineer and made more than $70,000 a year at the time of his divorce.
Meanwhile, Department of Social Services Law Enforcement Liaison Jackie Swindler confirmed the agency had an open case with the family. A DSS worker and a Lexington County Sheriff officer interviewed Jones, the children and neighbors on Aug. 8, following a complaint made the previous day that Jones was abusing the children.
No physical signs of abuse were spotted on the children. A follow-up visit was scheduled by DSS, but authorities were already searching for the children before the caseworker could make a return visit, Swindler said.
The caseworker dispatched on Aug. 8 is a veteran staffer with more than 25 years of experience, said a source close to the investigation. And the worker had a caseload of 17 cases, totaling 34 children, a range well within recommended guidelines by the National Association of Social Workers.
DSS also had contact with the family in May, when they received a report of abuse. At the time, a child told the caseworker a sibling had slammed a door on the other, according to a source. DSS had not released the family's file as of Wednesday evening.
S.C. dad confessed to killing his 5 children, authorities say - Post and Courier
