A man was arrested Saturday after a missing 2-year-old was found dead in a wooded area near a Marietta apartment complex, police said.
Messiah Harris, who would have turned 3 in a few weeks, was first reported missing around 2 p.m. Friday after his mother’s boyfriend called 911, police spokesperson Chuck McPhilamy said.
Messiah was said to have last been seen at an apartment wearing blue and white striped pajamas. When he called authorities, the boyfriend told police the child had been missing since about 1:30 p.m. The apartment is on Ridge Run off Franklin Gateway near Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
By 7:20 p.m. Friday, officials said Messiah was located behind the complex in a wooded area.
“Preliminary indications are that his body had been in the woods for a considerable amount of time,” McPhilamy said in a written statement.
Officials said they determined the boyfriend, identified as 23-year-old Dairon Keith, gave false statements to law enforcement. Keith is accused of placing Messiah’s dead body in the woods and covering it with dirt and vegetation, McPhilamy said.
Keith was booked into the Cobb County Jail on felony charges of concealing the death of another and false statement. Police said additional charges may be filed as the investigation continues.
Authorities said the Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office is trying to determine the cause and time of death.
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