The Illinois parents who reported their 5-year-old son missing last week murdered the boy, wr🧜apped his body in plastic and buried him in a shallow grave, officials said.
Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham were charged Wednesday after Andrew “AJ” Freund was found dead about seven miles away near Woodstock, according to Crystal Lake Police.
During interviews conducted overnight, the parents “provided information” that ultimately led to authorities locating the child, authorities said.
“AJ is no longer suffering and his killers are being brought to justice,” Police Chief James Black said at a Wednesday press conference.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had been in contact with the family 🦂since the child was born with opiates in his system in 2013, , which also reported a younger son of the couple had been placed in DCFC custody.
His cause of death wasn’t released pending further investigation.
AJ’s parents first told police he vanished after they put him to bed around 9 p.m. last Wednesday at their Crystal Lake home.
They reported him missing the following morning, but investigators 🔥later said his mother stopped cooperating with authorities searching for her child.
Both parents were charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder. The boy’s mother also faces charges for aggravated battery, aggravated domestic battery, and failure to report a missing child or child death.
Freund Sr. faces charges for aggravated battery, aggravated dome✅stic battery, concealment of a homicidal death and failure to report a missing child or death♔.
“No one was going to sleep, and no one will sleep until justice is brought to AJ. This is the beginning of the process,” said Jeffrey Sallet, special agent in charge for the FBI’s Chicago Office.