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$26,000 reward offered for safe return of boy, 6
Groups continue to search for the missing Brunswick child

By Teresa Stepzinski
The Times-Union
March 11, 2007

BRUNSWICK - A reward of $26,000 has been offered for the safe return of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr., who disappeared Thursday night while walking toward his home in a Glynn County mobile home park.

Police are investigating the 6-year-old boy's disappearance as an abduction, although no evidence of foul play has been found.

The ground, air and water search of the area surrounding his home in Canal Mobile Home Park continued Saturday. Hundreds of local, state and federal law enforcement officers, National Guard soldiers and volunteers have been looking for Christopher since he failed to return home Thursday evening.

However, no clues to his whereabouts have been found, which in itself is suspicious.

"I'm treating it as an abduction. ... A 6-year-old boy just doesn't disappear for this long of a time on his own," Glynn County police Chief Matt Doering said Saturday.

Police aided by county sheriff's deputies began tracking down 37 known sex offenders who are living in the same ZIP code.

"Detectives are continuing to follow up on that aspect as part of the investigation," police Assistant Chief Scott Trautz said.

All sex offenders in Georgia must report their addresses to the sheriff of the county where they live. Deputies make surprise checks to verify the offender's residence. Georgia's sex offender registry lists people convicted of sex crimes according to the ZIP code of their home or work address.

Christopher is a "normal, happy little boy," friends and neighbors said. He has no known health problems that could have incapacitated him, police said.

The reward was posted Saturday as searchers on foot, horseback and riding all-terrain vehicles continued to comb the woods and thick underbrush in an ever-widening circle.

Divers searched a deep pond nearby, while a shallow pond was search by officers in waders. The Altamaha Canal, which runs behind the trailer park, also was searched again by police and state Department of Natural Resources rangers, Doering said.

"We're re-searching the canal and ponds on the mere possibility that he might have fallen in," Doering said.

Piles of trees and brush from recent land-clearing operations also were being checked, Trautz said.

No proof he's been abducted

The Glynn County Commission has provided $25,000 of the reward, while the other $1,000 was donated by a private individual.

Fliers containing Christopher's photograph and police contact information are being displayed at stores, shopping malls and other businesses, as well as on utility poles and billboards throughout the county.

Christopher's information also has been listed on the Web site for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

However, his case doesn't meet the criteria for Levi's Call in Georgia or an Amber Alert nationwide because there is no proof he has been abducted, law enforcement officials said.

Christopher's family continued to pray for his safe return. They tearfully thanked searchers for their efforts.

Boy was heading home

Christopher is a kindergarten student at C.B. Greer Elementary School. After school, he rode the bus and got off at the entrance to the trailer park. As normal, Christopher went to his grandmother's home, where he usually plays video games and has supper with her, police said.

Doering said Christopher was last seen about 6:15 p.m. Thursday as he walked toward his home on Horseshoe Lane after playing alone at a swing set in the yard of a friend in the trailer park. The distance between the two homes is about a block.

Christopher apparently was carrying a small plastic bottle of lemonade, and might have had a toy action figure with him as he headed home, Doering said.

He was reported missing at 8:10 p.m. Thursday by his father, Christopher Barrios Sr.

The elder Barrios had been at work when he learned that his son hadn't come home. He immediately left his job, came home and searched the trailer park for his son before calling police and reporting him missing, authorities said.

Police dogs tracked Christopher's scent to the swing set and a dock at the canal before losing the trail that night, Trautz said.

However, there is no way of knowing exactly when Christopher had been at those sites, Trautz said.

[Admin]

Georgia Police Given False Leads in Search for Missing 6-Year-Old Boy

By Liza Porteus
Fox News
March 13, 2007

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Police investigating the disappearance of a 6-year-old boy thought they'd caught a break in the case Tuesday, but instead were left frustrated following a day of chasing down conflicting leads provided by a convicted sex offender and his mother.

FOXNews.com confirmed that Glynn County police had arrested George Edenfield, a 32-year-old convicted sex offender described as having the mental capacity of a 5-year-old, on unrelated charges of violating his probation, which prohibits him from having contact with children under 18.

Police said Edenfield was questioned in the investigation into the disappearance of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. Edenfield lives in the same neighborhood as the Barrios family.

A tip from Edenfield led police to search a wooded field and canal near the Barrios home, but a search party of more than 200 officers, National Guardsmen and volunteers failed to find the child six days after he vanished, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said.

"He was not arrested for anything to do with our case," Glynn County Police Capt. Jim Nazzrie said. "We have talked to him and that's what led us to talk to his mother and that's what's led us on a wild goose chase," Nazzrie added. "He's a person of concern but there's nothing there to link him to anything at this time."

Glynn County investigators questioned Edenfield's mother early Tuesday morning.

Police searched Edenfield's mobile home Monday night after his mother told investigators the boy may still be alive, Doering said. Police found a piece of evidence related to Christopher's disappearance at the trailer, but Doering would not say what it was.

Edenfield's mother, meanwhile, was taken into custody and charged with hindering an investigation after she told law enforcement she thought she knew where Christopher may be, only to find she was intentionally leading them astray, Nazzrie said.

"We have spent all day going back over five square miles," Nazzrie said. "The only information we've got from anyone out there has not panned out to be true. That's why we have the subject in custody, for hindering an investigation. They're not charged with a crime or a criminal act against Christopher, but it's one of these things, 'well I can show you where the body's at,' well, it's not here.' "

Doering expressed similar frustration after spending the day acting on information provided by Edenfield.

"He's made four, five or six different statements, all conflicting," Doering said. "If we didn't think there was some credence to it all, we wouldn't be here. How much? I don't know."

Neighbors reported seeing Christopher last Thursday night walking the road not far from the homes of his father and grandmother, who live in a mobile home park about a half-mile from Interstate 95 just outside the port city of Brunswick on the Georgia coast. The boy has not been seen since.

Police found one of Christopher's toys, a Star Wars light saber, near where he was last spotted.

Dozens of volunteers have spent days helping search for the boy along the road and in the woods surrounding the mobile home park.

On Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a Levi's Call, the state's equivalent of an Amber Alert. Typically, that's only done in a known child abduction case.

"The only thing that makes any sense is he was abducted," Doering said

"Please bring my baby ... anything you know ... whatever ... just relay it. Just help out and if you know somebody who's done something to my son, just turn him in, you know," Christopher Barrios Sr. told FOX TV affiliate WAWS.

He said earlier: "I miss my son. I'm ready for him to come home. I don't know where he is and I wish I knew where to start looking for him, you know, but I don't and it's heartbreaking."

Christopher's older brother, Brevin, who is 10, also said he wants Christopher home and that he misses him.

Sue Rodriguez, the boy's grandmother, told FOX News on Tuesday that Edenfield lived across the street from Christopher's trailer in the mobile home park, and that he had tried to talk to the boy.

"We told him 'don't go near that man, he'll hurt you, stay away from him,'" she said.

She said Christopher came to her house last Thursday, but later left to go back to his father's house nearby. He asked friends in the back of the trailer park to come play with him, but they couldn't, so he went to play on the swing set by himself.

"Then one of the neighbors said they saw him headed home, which is no more maybe than 100 feet, 200 feet from there, I'm not sure, then he just disappeared," Rodriguez said.

Asked whether the family still has hope Christopher is alive, she said: "Yes sir, we're holding on to that hope that he's alive and he's going to come home."

A reward of $31,500 has been offered for Christopher's safe return.

He is described as Hispanic/black, about 3 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing about 60 to 70 pounds. He was last seen wearing a long-sleeve blue or green shirt, black pants and white Reebok Velcro shoes with a blue stripe.

Anybody with information is asked to call the Glynn County Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 912-554-7802.

[Admin]

Police seize shovels in Ga. child disappearance case

By Terry Dickson and Jeff Brumley
The Times-Union
3/14/2007

BRUNSWICK -- Authorities on Wednesday bagged and removed three shovels from a shed and home owned by David Edenfield, one of four people arrested so far in the March 8 disappearance of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jynn County police investigators, armed with a search warrant, spent about 30 minutes in the late afternoon searching a small wooden shed behind the home at 2122 Union St.

Christopher was last seen just after 6 p.m. on Thursday when he left a swing set in a friend's yard, where he had been playing alone, and walked toward his house less than 200 yards away in Canal Mobile Home Park north of Brunswick.

Tenants told officers and the Times-Union that Edenfield, 58, his wife Peggy Edenfield and their son, convicted sex offender George David Edenfield, placed several boxes in the shed on Sunday night.

Police arrested David Edenfield, 58, and Donald Dale. Both are being held in the Glynn County jail on charges of concealing the death of another, giving false statements to police and obstruction of an officer.

Those are the same charges under which Edenfield's wife, Peggy Edenfield, 57, has been held since her arrest Monday.

Authorities have also arrested 34-year-old Donald Dale of the 1900 block of Reynolds Street, which is just around the street from the Edenfield home on Union Street. Records show Dale also lived on Union Street, down the road from the Edenfield home, for a short time.

All three Edenfields lived in a mobile home at 121 Horseshoe Lane that Christopher passed as he walked a 200-foot path between the home of his grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, and his father, Mike Barrios.

Glynn County Undersheriff Ron Corbitt confirmed that all four are in custody in the Glynn County Detention Center and said concealing a death is not a bondable offense.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said so far statements made by the four have not yielded any sign of Christopher Barrios.

When officers questioned David Edenfield, he said he had personal knowledge of Christopher's whereabouts, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said. Edenfield statements led police to Dale, who also said he had personal knowledge of Christopher Barrios' whereabouts, Doering said.

Tuesday night, both men were brought to an open field and deep woods about a quarter mile north of the mobile home park and a search was undertaken, Doering said. That search yielded nothing and another was begun about 8 a.m. with police officers and cadaver and search dogs.

"We just want to be very thorough," Doering said of the search. Many park residents have characterized George David Edenfield as mentally disabled, but Doering said that may be true to a degree.

"His IQ is far less than that of a typical high school graduate or a person in college,'" but he is a high school graduate, Doering said.

"He is not retarded. There is no question in my mind he knows right from wrong," Doering said.

Doering also said officers are searching other parts of the county, but he declined to say where.

The investigation is being conducted with the assumption that Christopher is alive, he said.

"Until we find out he's not, we'll keep searching," he said.

[Admin]

Georgia Police Find Shovels in Trailer of Suspect in Case of Missing 6-Year-Old

By Liza Porteus
Fox News
March 15, 2007

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Police found several shovels in the trailer of a convicted sex offender and his family during their search for missing southeast Georgia 6-year-old Christopher Barrios, according to a broadcast report.

One shovel was found late Monday night, and three more were found Wednesday night when police searched the home of George Edenfield, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering told local FOX affiliate WAWS. Investigators won't give details about any other evidence or clues they found inside the house.

"Sometimes people will only tell you what they want you to know, or what they think you already know," Doering told WSB radio.

Edenfield, 32, has been named a suspect in the case.

Investigators on Thursday were searching another pond for the boy. More federal and state agents are on the scene, as well as up to 100 volunteers. Searchers have been combing the same general 5-square-mile area for a week now in their search for Christopher.

"We hope we find him," Glynn County Police Capt. Jim Nazzrie told FOXNews.com on Thursday. "I'm very hopeful we're going to find him alive ... you always have that hope that someone will be found alive."

Nazzrie said police likely will not give details about anything that could be considered evidence found in the Edenfield trailer, particularly if it's something that could later be used in court.

Police searched a thicket of dense pines Wednesday night where Edenfield's father David, and family friend Donald Dale — both of whom are in custody for lying to police — told investigators they had buried the boy's dead body there. They also searched a pond near the mobile home park in which both the Barrios and Edenfields live.

But hours of searching with high-tech gear failed to turn up any sign of the child. The search was suspended for the night around 10 a.m.

Police said Monday night was the last night the people in custody referred to Barrios as a child and not a body, reported WAWS. Investigators said they are now searching areas outside of Glynn County for the child. They also want to talk to other persons of interest.

George Edenfield, a convicted sex offender who was taken into custody on unrelated charges of violating his parole and still has no charges against him in Christopher's disappearance, is the main suspect in the investigation.

Police said he has told them conflicting stories about Christopher. In one interview, he told police he knew where the boy was located, but in another, he said he didn’t know anything about the disappearance.

Also arrested was Dale, described as an Edenfield family friend, George Edenfield's mother, Peggy, and his father, David.

David and Peggy Edenfield and Dale were charged with "concealing the death of another person," a charge based on false statements to police, Nazzrie said.

"All that is under state law, if you told me you buried a body and you took me out there and you couldn’t produce the body ... then we charge you with that because you say you have knowledge of it," Nazzrie said. "It probably won't hold up in court but it's still a charge."

The Edenfields and Dale, considered "people of interest" by police, also were charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to investigators searching for the little boy. Police say those in custody have given conflicting statements about whether Christopher is alive, where he may be, and their level of involvement — if any — in his disappearance.

"The father and his friend basically confessed to burying little Christopher," Nazzrie told FOX News. "They took us to the area, several areas … for some reason they want to lie about it, they can’t remember where they buried the body or if they did bury the boy," he said.

"[George Edenfield] actually said that he had hurt the boy and his momma and then had moved the boy," Nazzrie said. However, police have "no reason to believe [Christopher] is dead," he added.

The obstruction charges carry a bond of only $235.50 per person, while the giving false statements charges carry a bond of $1,104 per person. No bond was set for the "concealing the death of another person" charges, or for George Edenfield's parole violation.

Christopher was last seen last Thursday night walking on a road not far from the homes of his father and grandmother, who live in a mobile home park about a half-mile from Interstate 95 just outside the port city of Brunswick on the Georgia coast.

The missing boy's parents have been "very cooperative," police say, and have allowed law enforcement to search their home and question them. Police say they don't feel any family members are involved.

The boy's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez told FOX News on Wednesday that there was no bad blood between the Edenfield family and the Barrios family, however, she's never even spoken to them, even though they live directly across the street from her.

"From what I've seen, the man just sits on the porch and watches all the kids out here," she said of George Edenfield.

Asked whether she's hopeful about finding her grandson alive, Rodriguez replied: "I am very hopeful that they're going to find this baby, my baby, bring him home. My hopes of him coming home alive are about gone, but I just want him brought back."

Rodriguez told FOX News that Edenfield had tried to talk to Christopher before.

"We told him 'don't go near that man, he'll hurt you, stay away from him,'" she said.

On Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a Levi's Call, the state's equivalent of an Amber Alert.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents are helping local authorities in the search.

"They're assisting us in running down certain information we can't get as quickly — criminal histories and stuff of that nature," Nazzrie said. "They're not conducting an investigation separate from us."

A reward of $31,500 has been offered for Christopher's safe return.

He is described as Hispanic/black, about 3 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing about 60 to 70 pounds. He was last seen wearing a long-sleeve blue or green shirt, black pants and white Reebok Velcro shoes with a blue stripe.

Anybody with information is asked to call the Glynn County Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 912-554-7802.

[Admin]

Body Found is Missing 6-Year-Old Georgia Boy

By Liza Porteus
Fox News
March 15, 2007

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The weeklong search for a missing 6-year-old Georgia boy ended tragically Thursday afternoon when his body was found in a field not far from his home, police confirmed.

The body of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. was found in a black garbage bag at about 4 p.m. EDT in a field near the Brunswick, Ga., airport by a Department of Natural Resources officer, police said.

Christopher had been missing since last Thursday.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said he expected to file murder charges against four people already in custody: George Edenfield, a 32-year-old convicted sex offender; his parents, David and Peggy Edenfield; and, family friend Donald Dale.

"We believe they did it," Doering said, adding that he knew the motive for the killing but would not reveal it to reporters.

Doering said he was the one who told Christopher's father the tragic news.

"That's the hardest time I've had to hold my composure," he said.

"It's a big relief, really, to know the boy is found, even though he's dead," Christopher's uncle, Carlos, told local FOX affiliate WAWS. "At least now he can get a proper burial."

Carlos Barrios said the body was found in a "pile of trash" and was covered in some type of bag.

"He wasn't trash, he was a good kid," Carlos Barrios said, adding that the family is "pretty torn up right now." He also thanked all the volunteers and authorities who helped in the search.

Police said four shovels were found during the investigation: One was found Monday night during a search of George Edenfield's home, while the other three were found Wednesday night around Dale's home, Doering told FOX affiliate WAWS.

The Edenfields and Dale had been providing investigators with false information and leads for several days, police said.

"My hopes jumped back up that he's alive and that we're gonna find our baby alive and he's gonna come back home," Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, told FOX News just hours before the tragic news of her grandson's death surfaced.

"They haven't found no baby's body and as along as that's not so, I'm gonna continue to hope and pray that he's alive and that he's coming home."

George Edenfield's parents and Dale were arrested this week and charged with obstructing an officer, providing false information and concealing the death of another — meaning they gave leads to police about where Christopher's body was that never panned out. Charges will now be upgraded to homicide, police said.

"All that is under state law, if you told me you buried a body and you took me out there and you couldn’t produce the body ... then we charge you with that because you say you have knowledge of it," Glynn County Police Capt. Jim Nazzrie said. "It probably won't hold up in court but it's still a charge."

Doering said Thursday that even though many leads the Edenfields and Dale gave police didn't turn up a body, the clues still were somewhat helpful. The body was not found in any of the places the suspects revealed to police.

"Everywhere we searched, we found nothing we were supposed to find," Doering said. But "we were confident that to some degree, they were telling us the truth ... that kept us looking, kept us focused."

Asked whether she believed the Edenfields and Dale knew where Christopher was, Rodriguez earlier said she thinks the four are "playing like they're crazy" in leading frustrated police around to different spots only to come up empty in their search.

"I've begun thinking they are a little bit off but I think there's a lot playin' and this ain't no game," she said.

Investigators on Thursday searched another pond for the boy. Searchers had been combing the same general 5-square-mile area for a week in their search for Christopher.

"We hope we find him," Nazzrie told FOXNews.com Thursday before the news broke of Christopher's death. "I'm very hopeful we're going to find him alive ... you always have that hope that someone will be found alive."

Police searched a thicket of dense pines Wednesday night where Edenfield's father, David, and Dale told investigators they had buried the boy's body. They also searched a pond near the mobile home park in which both the Barrios and Edenfields live.

But hours of searching with high-tech gear failed to turn up any sign of the child. The search was suspended for the night around 10 p.m.

Police said Monday night was the last night the people in custody referred to Barrios as a child and not a body, WAWS reported. Investigators also began searching areas outside of Glynn County later this week. They said they also wanted to talk to other persons of interest.

In one interview, police said George Edenfield told them he knew where the boy was, but in another he said he didn’t know anything about his disappearance.

"The father and his friend basically confessed to burying little Christopher," Nazzrie told FOX News on Wednesday. "They took us to the area, several areas … for some reason they want to lie about it, they can’t remember where they buried the body or if they did bury the boy," he said.

"[George Edenfield] actually said that he had hurt the boy and his momma and then had moved the boy," Nazzrie said.

Christopher was last seen last Thursday night walking on a road not far from the homes of his father and grandmother, who live in a mobile home park about a half-mile from Interstate 95 just outside the port city of Brunswick on the Georgia coast.

On Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a Levi's Call, the state's equivalent of an Amber Alert.

[Admin]

George Edenfield's Criminal History

By Angela Williams
First Coast News
March 16, 2007

GLYNN COUNTY, GA -- You see it in her eyes, a grandmother's pain and anger.

"They're monsters from hell and may they burn from hell which they will!" says Sue Rodriguez.

The Edenfields lived right across the street but their dark past didn't begin there.

In May of 1997 George Edenfield was convicted on two counts of child molestation. Court documents say he was accused of rubbing his body in a sexual motion against two boys under the age of 16.

The incident occurred while the family was living on Union Street in downtown Brunswick. Court documents state the two victims lived only a few houses down from the Edenfields. The home was also right down the street from a park where children play.

In September of 2006 George was indicted for living less than 1,000 feet from the park. The family then moved from Union Street to Christopher's neighborhood. This is where he made contact with the little boy and violated probation again.

"That was a stipulation of his probation. He was not to have contact with anyone under 18 years old," says Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering.

A murder charge is now pending against all three Edenfields. Christopher's family is left with the hard truth. His grandmother wears a silver chain with an engraved picture of Christopher on the pendant. She says it is now the only way she can physically keep him close to her heart.

"I will never take it off. When I die, it will be buried with me and he will go with me. That's my baby," says Rodriguez.

According to superior court documents, George Edenfield never served prison time for the two counts of child molestation. He was given ten years probation.

Undersheriff Ron Corbet tells First Coast News, George Edenfield was in court just two days before Christopher disappeared. He was appearing for the indictment from September 2006.

[Admin]

Christopher Barrios Sr. Talks About Son's Death

By Ryan Duffy
First Coast News
March 16, 2007

BRUNSWICK, GA -- Christopher Barrios Sr. spent Friday planning his son Christopher's funeral and looking through toys and photographs in the boy's room. The last time he tucked his Christopher into bed was eight days ago.

"He would always say goodnight, God bless, I love you, to each and every one of us, before he went to bed," says Christopher Barrios Sr.

Now the boy who loved Spiderman will no longer play with his collection of action figure toys. On Friday, Barrios had to pick out a casket for his son.

"That was something I wasn't prepared to do, wasn't prepared to do that. My son's only six years old and he's going to be laying up there."

Christopher Barrios Sr. is mourning and blaming himself, because he was at work when Christopher went missing.

"I feel like if I were here, he'd still be here with me."

Now the neighborhood cat Christopher adopted is without his little boy and a father is without his son.

[Admin]

Autopsy to Be Performed Friday on Body of 6-Year-Old Georgia Boy

By Liza Porteus
Fox News
March 16, 2007

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — An autopsy will be performed Friday on the body of a 6-year-old Georgia boy who was found in a trash bag not far from his home.

Officials at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Crime Lab in Savannah will conduct the autopsy on Christopher Michael Barrios, who had been missing for a week in coastal Georgia before being found about three miles from his Glynn County trailer park on Thursday. His body was found by state game wardens stuffed in a plastic trash bag in a field near the Brunswick, Ga., airport.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said it was obvious the child had been slain, but would not say how. He escorted the boy's father, Mike Barrios, to the scene where Christopher was found, though Barrios did not actually view the body.

"That's the hardest time I've had to hold my composure," Doering told reporters when asked what it was like to break the news to the father. "That was the hardest part ... When it's your only son that has been killed and you want to go look for the last time, that's tough."

Doering said he expected to file murder charges against four people already in custody: George Edenfield, a 32-year-old convicted sex offender; his parents, David and Peggy Edenfield; and, family friend Donald Dale. The Edenfields lived in a trailer directly across from the Barrios family.

"We believe they did it," Doering told reporters, adding that he knew the motive for the killing but would not reveal it.

Edenfield told investigators he played a role in the boy's abduction. He was charged with violating his probation from a 1997 child molestation conviction, which prohibited him from contact with children under 18.

Christopher went missing just yards from his house last Thursday after playing alone on a nearby swing set. His family was never considered suspect in the case. Hundreds of volunteers aided the search as police chased down false leads provided by the suspects in custody.

"You suspected all along in your heart, it's just not the outcome you want," said volunteer searcher Mari Charnock, who dabbed at tears after the boy was found dead. "At least we know, though. At least it's over."

Many of the volunteers, several wearing T-shirts printed with the boy's photo, hugged and sobbed as Doering broke the news.

Cpl. Jesse Cook of the Department of Natural Resources and his colleague, Sgt. John Harwell, were aiding in the search and spotted tire tracks on the road curving off toward the tree line. They pulled over and saw the trash bag among the trees and brush about 15 feet from the road. They alerted detectives when they got close enough to notice flies and a strong odor coming from the bag.

"It was obvious," Cook said. "But if you weren't looking for it, you probably would've thought it was just a trash bag."

Christopher's uncle said now that a body has been found, the boy's family now at least can try to find some closure to their tragedy.

"It's a big relief, really, to know the boy is found, even though he's dead," Carlos Barrios told local FOX affiliate WAWS. "At least now he can get a proper burial."

Carlos Barrios said his family is "pretty torn up right now" and thanked all the volunteers and authorities who helped in the search.

Police said four shovels were found during the investigation: One was found Monday night during a search of George Edenfield's home, while the other three were found Wednesday night around Dale's home, Doering told FOX affiliate WAWS.

The Edenfields and Dale had been providing investigators with false information and leads for several days, police said.

"My hopes jumped back up that he's alive and that we're gonna find our baby alive and he's gonna come back home," Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, told FOX News just hours before the tragic news of her grandson's death surfaced.

"They haven't found no baby's body and as along as that's not so, I'm gonna continue to hope and pray that he's alive and that he's coming home."

George Edenfield's parents and Dale were arrested this week and charged with obstructing an officer, providing false information and concealing the death of another — meaning they gave leads to police about where Christopher's body was that never panned out.

In one interview, police said George Edenfield told them he knew where the boy was, but in another he said he didn't know anything about his disappearance.

"The father and his friend basically confessed to burying little Christopher," Glynn County Police Capt. Jim Nazzrie had told FOX News. "They took us to the area, several areas … for some reason they want to lie about it, they can’t remember where they buried the body or if they did bury the boy," he said.

"[George Edenfield] actually said that he had hurt the boy and his momma and then had moved the boy," Nazzrie said.

Doering said Thursday that even though many leads the Edenfields and Dale gave police didn't turn up a body, the clues still were somewhat helpful. The body was not found in any of the places the suspects revealed to police, so they expanded their search, and that's what led them to the body.

"Everywhere we searched, we found nothing we were supposed to find," Doering said. But "we were confident that to some degree, they were telling us the truth ... that kept us looking, kept us focused."

Christopher was last seen last Thursday night walking on a road not far from the homes of his father and grandmother, who live in a mobile home park about a half-mile from Interstate 95 just outside the port city of Brunswick on the Georgia coast.

On Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a Levi's Call, the state's equivalent of an Amber Alert.

[Admin]

'Not the outcome that we had prayed for'

By Teresa Stepzinski and Jeff Brumley
The Times-Union
March 16, 2007

BRUNSWICK - The body of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. was found Thursday afternoon hidden in woods about 2 miles from his home in Canal Mobile Home Park.

His body was concealed but not buried when discovered about 4 p.m. by a Georgia Department of Natural Resources ranger searching the area sandwiched between Canal Road and Harry Driggers Boulevard.

A short time after the grim discovery, Glynn County police Chief Matt Doering said three members of a family who lived next door to the boy and another man will be charged with murder.

The boy's father, Christopher Michael "Mike'' Barrios, insisted on being taken to see his son when Doering told him of the discovery.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, take that father to see his dead son," Doering said.

Doering drove the elder Barrios back to his home, where he broke the news to the rest of his family, that it was true: Christopher was dead.

As they made their first public comments nearly four hours later, Christopher Barrios' family told the Times-Union they hope the boy's killers suffer for the rest of their lives.

"It's been a long day. I miss my baby," the father said. He and a dozen friends and family, most of them wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the boy's image, stood quietly outside his home in a mobile home park off Canal Road. "I was hoping for a better outcome."

Sue Rodriguez, the boy's grandmother, said the family had held out hope right up until police notified them they boy's body had been found.

"We were expecting him alive," Rodriguez said.

Christopher's 10-year-old brother, Brevin Barrios, whispered that he misses his brother's laugh and their playtime together.

"I just want him to come home," he said. "I just want to remember his laugh."

The father said there is some small measure of relief in knowing Christopher was found. "That's better than not ever knowing what happened to him."

Investigators wouldn't say how Christopher died or how long he had been dead.

DNR Cpl. Jesse Cook said he discovered the body about 15 feet off Canal Road while riding the road in a truck.

Cook said the bag he spotted in a thin stand of trees did not look like it had trash and it was covered with bugs. He investigated and found Christopher's body.

Cook said he has worked similar cases, "but nothing that makes me as sick as this."

The boy's body was near the road but wasn't readily visible unless someone "knew what to look for," Doering said.

Doering said he drove by the site Sunday after church and didn't see the bag.

"This was not the outcome that we had hoped and prayed for," he said. "The only good thing is that it brings some sort of closure, and we don't have to wonder whatever happened to Christopher."

The ranger who found the body was among 200 local, state and federal law enforcement officers plus at least as many civilian volunteers who have been searching for Christopher since he disappeared exactly one week before while walking toward home after playing alone on a swing set in a friend's yard.

His body was in an area that had been searched several times previously. It was not among the many sites, however, where George David Edenfield, a twice-convicted child molester, his parents and their friend had told police to look for the kindergarten student, Doering said.

All four will face murder charges, Doering said.

Peggy Edenfield, 57, already is charged along with her husband, David Edenfield, 58, and Donald Dale, 34, with concealing Christopher's death and lying to police about it.

George David Edenfield, 32, is accused of violating his probation by living too near children.

The three Edenfields live together in a mobile home directly across from Christopher's grandmother's home.

All are jailed without bail and are the only suspects in Christopher's abduction and death, Doering said.

Glynn County police worked into the night collecting evidence at the site where Christopher was found.

[Admin]

Suspects kept to themselves, except the son

By Jeff Brumly
The Times-Union
March 18, 2007

BRUNSWICK - Neighbors of the family arrested in connection with the death of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. said the Edenfields usually kept to themselves, although the son, registered sex offender George D. Edenfield, was often seen staring at neighborhood children.

Acquaintances of Edenfield family friend Donald C. Dale, meanwhile, mostly expressed surprise at his arrest. They described him as a kind, mentally-challenged man who stayed out of trouble and often went out of his way to help people.

Edenfield, 32, his parents, David H. Edenfield, 58, and Peggy Edenfield, 57, and Dale have been arrested in connection with the boy's March 8 disappearance and the subsequent discovery of his body in a Glynn County field on Thursday.

The 6-year-old boy was last seen alive in the Canal Mobile Home Park off Canal Road where he, much of his extended family and the Edenfields lived.

The elder Edenfields and Dale, 34, are each charged with concealing a death, obstruction of an officer and making a false statement to police. George Edenfield has been charged with violating probation by living in close proximity to children under age 18.

Glynn County police Chief Matt Doering said he expects all four will be charged with murder.

Residents on Horseshoe Lane where the Edenfields lived said the father was a quiet man who worked at a nearby fast-food restaurant and who kept to himself and stayed out of sight.

Superior Court records show that David Edenfield was arrested for committing incest against his daughter in 1993, and that he pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 10 years' probation in 1994.

But it was the son, George Edenfield, who bothered the neighborhood most.

"I know the boy was weird," Horseshoe Lane resident Leland Ferguson said. "He'd come up to the school bus stop and googly-eye the children."

Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, who lives across the street from the Edenfield mobile home, said she often warned the boy to stay away from George Edenfield.

"We told Christopher before, don't go near him, he's a bad man," Rodriguez said.

However, neighbors interviewed said they didn't know the man was a convicted sex offender.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation records show that George Edenfield was convicted and incarcerated on two counts of child molestation in 1997.

Other than the current charge against her, court records show no previous criminal activity by Peggy Edenfield.

News of Dale's alleged involvement stunned some of those who know him.

Ruth Daniel and Frances Grantham, who live down the street from the Reynolds Street boarding home where Dale lived, scoffed at the idea of his involvement.

"He's a little slow, but he's not totally crazy," Daniel said, adding the man didn't work because of his psychological condition. She said he has no family to look out for him and is probably being falsely implicated by the Edenfields.

"He just never showed anything that he would hurt anyone," she said. On the contrary, he helped several neighbors with their yard work and other chores. "We're just flabbergasted."

Brunswick resident Richard Taylor said he graduated in 1991 from Brunswick High School, which he attended with Dale.

"A lot of people picked on him in school, called him Cornbread. That would set him off," Taylor said.

Some students picked on him, probably because he was mentally slow, Taylor said.

"Kids are cruel," he said, but Dale "was always friendly to me."

[Admin]

New state laws will protect kids, lawmaker argues
Not all the restrictions were in place when a 6-year-old was abducted and killed.

By Brandon Larrabee
The Times-Union
March 20, 2007

ATLANTA - New restrictions on sex offenders passed by the General Assembly last year could save other children from the fate of a 6-year-old Brunswick boy killed last week, the bill's chief sponsor said Monday.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons Island, told the House that two of the four people being held in connection with the death of Christopher Barrios would have been in jail if the new state law had been in force, "and young Christopher would have met his school bus today at the end of his street to go to school."

Keen said Glynn County officials had done everything they could to comply with the new restrictions last year but were hindered by a court ruling that prevents law enforcement officials from following some residency restrictions, including those on offenders living near bus stops.

Civil liberties organizations have asked the courts to throw out the law because it sweeps up thousands of sex offenders, including those who live with their own children, and makes it difficult in some areas for those offenders to find a place to live. Barrios' father, Christopher Michael "Mike" Barrios, was convicted of statutory rape when he was 24.

It is also nearly impossible to enforce the law, the groups say.

Keen said he was grateful that the General Assembly voted to approve the legislation.

"I want to personally thank every member of this House and the Senate for the courage that it took to do so in spite of the criticism of the small few," he said, while admitting the legislation didn't pass soon enough to save Christopher.

"But it will prevent these events from happening again because the people who will prey upon our children will be in jail," he said.

Keen said that he and Reps. Cecily Hill, R-St. Marys, and Roger Lane, R-Darien, would be on hand for Christopher Barrios' funeral Thursday. Keen also thanked state agencies who helped local law enforcement and volunteers look for the boy before his body was found Thursday.

"Through Christopher's death, he has brought a community together like nothing I've seen before in Glynn County," Keen said.

[Admin]

Sex Offender, Parents Charged With Capital Murder of 6-Year-Old Georgia Boy

Fox News
March 21, 2007

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A convicted sex offender and his parents were charged with capital murder Wednesday in the death of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios.

The prosecutor in the case will seek the death penalty.

George Edenfield and his parents, David and Peggy, are charged with murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, enticing a child with indecent purposes, false imprisonment and cruelty to children and child molestation.

Donald Dale, the family friend also in custody in connection with Christopher's death, is not being charged with capital murder but along with the Edenfields is being charged with concealing the death of another person and tampering with evidence. Dale will not be eligible for the death penalty.

"I have formed a prosecution task force to work on this case immediately," Glynn County District Attorney Stephen Kelly said in a statement announcing the indictments Wednesday. "Over the next few weeks, we will be gathering information, reviewing the evidence and interviewing witnesses."

Kelly presented evidence in the Barrios case to the grand jury Wednesday — the same day of the Georgia boy's public viewing.

"I have sufficient evidence to go ahead to the grand jury," Kelly told FOXNews.com on Monday, adding "oh, yes" when asked if he has enough evidence against the suspects for the charges to stick.

Police say the Edenfields and Dale led them on several wild goose chases during their search for Christopher, telling them he may be found dead — or alive — in several places that turned up empty. The place authorities finally found Christopher's body was not one they were directed to by the suspects.

The body was in a black trash bag dumped near a roadside about three miles from his home on the outskirts of Brunswick, a port city in southeastern Georgia.

"They deserve the worst, for them to torture my son like that, every last one of them," said Mike Barrios, Christopher's father.

George Edenfield pleaded guilty in 1997 to molesting two boys, ages 7 and 9. Prosecutors said he rubbed his clothed body "in a sexual manner" against the boys, who also were fully dressed. He was sentenced then to 10 years on probation.

His father pleaded guilty to incest in 1994. He was accused of having sex with an adult relative; the relatives was not his son.

As part of his 1997 conviction, George Edenfield had to register as a sex offender in Georgia. A Georgia law passed last year prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop; the Edenfields lived about 600 feet from the one Christopher waited at. The Edenfields lived in a mobile-home park directly across from the Barrios family.

In Edenfield's case, a pending lawsuit prompted a federal judge last year to block the 1,000-foot provision from taking effect.

Kelly said he would look into the 1997 case as part of the current investigation.

Kelly said the Barrios case has "taken the highest priority right now" for his team of four prosecutors.

Christopher's funeral will be held Thursday at the Edo Miller Funeral Home in Brunswick, Ga., at 2 p.m. Visitation will be Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. A community reception was to follow the funeral Thursday afternoon in downtown Brunswick.

Although Kelly would not give details about how Christopher died or about what charges he may seek against the suspects, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said he told Christopher's father that "he did not suffer."

An autopsy was conducted at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's lab in Savannah. The results have not been released.

Christopher was last seen the night of March 8 walking on a road not far from the homes of his father and grandmother, who live in a mobile home park about a half-mile from Interstate 95 just outside the port city of Brunswick on the Georgia coast.

[Admin]

Community says final goodbye to slain little boy
Many mourners line up to pay respects to Christopher Michael Barrios Jr.

By Terry Dickson
The Times-Union
March 22, 2007

BRUNSWICK - A community paid its respects Wednesday to 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. on the same day a grand jury indicted his suspected killers.

As they have since the day after the child disappeared, members of the community rallied around the grieving family forming lines to file past the little white casket at Edo Miller & Sons Funeral Home. Members of a Brunswick Fire Department honor guard took turns standing at the head of the coffin as adults and children filed through.

As soon as Patricia Lamb stepped into the room, her face reddened and tears flowed.

"My kids were friends with him," she said. Her children, 6, 11 and 12, played with Christopher every weekend when they visited her brother, Jerry Lamb, at Canal Mobile Home Park where Christopher and his family lived.

Two big pictures of a smiling Christopher sat at each end of the closed casket, Spider-Man figures were perched on wreaths and a little bicycle rested nearby.

The boy's father, Christopher Michael "Mike" Barrios, accepted hugs and handshakes, many from people who didn't know his family.

"That's my baby's bike," he said. "He loved Spider-Man."

About 3 p.m., a video of still pictures from Christopher's short life began showing. Many visitors who had chatted froze silently in place to watch, many of them smiling through tears as Christopher as a toddler grinned from the screen.

Valerie Gill, who produced the video, is one of the Barrios family's many new friends. Gill said she wanted to do something to help after the community had been so good to her family when they lost their house and all their belongings in a fire.

Parents held their children's hands as they came for the afternoon visitation. The line stretched far outside the funeral home.

Mike Barrios has other children, and his mother, Sue Rodriguez, was struggling as she tried to keep up with one of them, 16-month-old, Jordan, outside the funeral home. As Jordan squirmed out of her lap, a man took her hand and spoke quietly to her of his sorrow for her family.

Teachers from C.B. Greer Elementary School, where Christopher was a kindergarten student, and from other schools came by.

Glynn County School System Superintendent Michael Bull attended to pay his respects and said the death has affected many in the schools.

"There were so many fingers reaching out into the education community," he said of Christopher's death.

The Christopher Barrios Relief Fund was established at Bank of America branches nationwide to help the family. Supporters were raising money for them in other ways. A group was at Wal-Mart on Wednesday selling T-shirts urging justice for the slain boy.

At a second visitation in the evening, Sam Lyons knelt and prayed at the casket before rising to embrace family members.

He wore one of the T-shirts honoring the slain boy. Outside the funeral home, his sorrow turned to anger at a system he said killed Christopher.

Lyons, who coordinated numerous volunteer searches last week, said he worked from sunrise to sunset for seven days.

Now that Christopher has been found, he and others have formed the Justice for Christopher Foundation to change a system so that it will protect children.

"We haven't rested yet," he said.

[Admin]

Funeral for 6-Year-Old Christopher Barrios Held; Suspects Took Turns Assaulting Boy

Fox News
March 23, 2007

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Six-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios was laid to rest Thursday, a day after a convicted child molester and his family were indicted for sexually abusing and killing the Georgia boy.

According to an indictment issued Wednesday, convicted child molester George Edenfield and his father took turns sexually assaulting Christopher while the molester's mother watched, then they choked the boy to death.

The indictment charges all three family members with murder and child molestation in the slaying of Christopher, whose body was found March 15 inside a trash bag dumped by a roadside.

District Attorney Stephen D. Kelley said he will seek the death penalty against 32-year-old George David Edenfield, who has a prior child molestation conviction from 1997, and his parents, David and Peggy Edenfield.

"This is one of the most horrific crimes that I have seen in 21 years of prosecutions," Kelley said.

Christopher went missing for a week before police found his body about three miles from his trailer park home outside Brunswick, a Georgia port city 60 miles south of Savannah. The suspects lived in a mobile home across the street from the boy's grandmother.

The indictment contains grim details about the case that police and prosecutors had not previously revealed. It says Christopher died from asphyxiation March 8 — the day he was reported missing — after the suspects choked him while "ignoring his complaints that they were hurting him." The indictment does not say which of three caused the boy's death.

It also claims George Edenfield and his 58-year-old father sodomized the boy and forced him to perform oral sex while Peggy Edenfield watched and masturbated.

"They deserve the worst, for them to torture my son like that, every last one of them," said Mike Barrios, the slain boy's father.

A friend of the Edenfield family, Donald Dale, was indicted on charges of concealing a death and tampering with evidence. Kelley said Dale did not become involved until after Christopher had been killed.

Nathan Williams, the attorney for 57-year-old Peggy Edenfield, declined to comment Wednesday. Attorneys for George and David Edenfield did not immediately return phone calls.

Glynn County police arrested the Edenfields four days after the child vanished while playing alone outside. Police Chief Matt Doering said all three suspects confessed to playing roles in the boy's abduction.

Police have said Dale admitted to investigators he helped the Edenfields dispose of Christopher's body.

Other charges against the Edenfields include false imprisonment, cruelty to children and enticing a child for indecent purposes.

Police have described George David Edenfield as mentally slow, but not retarded and capable of understanding right from wrong.

Ironically, the Edenfields moved into the trailer park where Christopher lived last year because of a Georgia law intended to keep child molesters away from children. Sheriffs' deputies told George Edenfield in September that he had to leave his home near downtown Brunswick because it was too close to a playground. Georgia law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools and other places that draw children.

His family went to live in the trailer park in October after George Edenfield was arrested for failing to move as ordered. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to probation March 5, three days before Christopher disappeared.

George Edenfield was required to register as a sex offender after he pleaded guilty in 1997 to molesting two boys, ages 7 and 9. Prosecutors said he rubbed his clothed body "in a sexual manner" against the boys, who also were fully dressed. He was sentenced then to 10 years on probation.

His father, David Edenfield, pleaded guilty to incest in 1994. He was accused of having sex with an adult relative who was not his son.

[Admin]

Edenfields, friend have first hearing in death of boy, 6
Boy was enticed into home for video games, documents show

By Teresa Stepzinski
The Times-Union
April 3, 2007

BRUNSWICK - Sue Rodriguez clenched and re-clenched her fingers around a tear-stained tissue Monday as she glared with hate-filled eyes across the courtroom at a convicted child molester and his parents charged with slaying her 6-year-old grandson last month.

Registered sex offender George D. Edenfield and his parents, David H. Edenfield and Peggy C. Edenfield, each face the death penalty if convicted of killing Christopher Michael Barrios Jr., who was sexually brutalized then asphyxiated after being abducted March 8.

Meanwhile, court documents made public Monday revealed that Christopher had been enticed into the Edenfield mobile home under the pretext of playing video games. Glynn County police in a sworn affidavit seeking a search warrant stated that they had "reason to believe that Christopher Barrios was using the video game console prior to being murdered" inside the Edenfield home.

Police seized a Playstation with control console from George Edenfield's room as well as a box of video games, sheets, blankets, a hammer and an open box of black trash bags from the family's home during a search, the affidavits showed.

Rodriguez along with her son, Christopher Michael "Mike" Barrios Sr. and about 30 other relatives, friends and volunteers who helped search for Christopher packed the courtroom where the Edenfields and their family friend, Donald Dale made their first appearance before Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett in the case.

"I just want five minutes alone with them. ... I hate them. All of them. I want them all to die. ... Take them all to hell. That's where they need to be," Rodriguez said after the court hearing.

Although watching the hearings Monday was "nerve-racking," Rodriguez vowed to be at every court hearing to ensure that Christopher receives justice.

"It's very nerve-racking to see them [Edenfields] sitting there with no concern at all on their faces," she said. "But I want them to look at my face. ... In my mind, I'm thinking 'burn in hell.' I'm praying that."

The three Edenfields each are charged with malice murder as well as multiple related charges including child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes and false imprisonment in Christopher's slaying, a Glynn County grand jury charged in a March 21 indictment.

One by one Monday, the Edenfields and Dale appeared before Scarlett amid tight security including Glynn County Sheriff Wayne Bennett and 10 deputies strategically deployed in the courtroom.

The Edenfields sat silently beside their attorneys - each experienced in death penalty cases - as the judge outlined the complex legal procedures to be followed as the case heads for trial.

George Edenfield, 31, appeared impassive except to jiggle one leg under the counsel table as he looked at the judge and other court officials.

His father, David Edenfield, 58, flipped through the inch-thick sheaf of court papers listing the legal procedures - but at one point, stopped and appeared to be reading the documents.

Neither the elder nor younger Edenfields looked at Christopher's family nor their other former neighbors who were seated in the spectator section of the courtroom.

However, Peggy Edenfield, 57, saw them, paused, then quickly looked away as she was escorted in by deputies for her hearing. She then sat with her chin cupped in one hand, leaned over to one side in her chair.

The three Edenfields will be arraigned at 2 p.m. April 13. At that time, they each officially will enter pleas in the case.

The judge granted requests from the Edenfields' attorneys that they be allowed to examine the family's home, where the indictment charges Christopher was killed.

Also on Monday, Dale pleaded not guilty through his attorney, John Wetzler, to charges of concealing a death and tampering with evidence following Christopher's murder.

Dale entered the courtroom hesitantly with his head down, and turned away from the spectators for his arraignment. He said nothing, and his hand shook slightly as he signed his name to legal documents during the brief proceeding.

The indictment charges that Dale's involvement occurred after the kindergarten student was killed. Because Dale hasn't been charged with murder, he doesn't face the death penalty.

However, both the concealing a death and evidence tampering charges are punishable by one to 10 years in prison.

Because they each face the death penalty if convicted, Georgia law mandates that the Edenfields be tried separately.

District Attorney Stephen Kelley told the court that he hasn't decided who will be tried first. Kelley previously has said it could take up to a year before the Edenfields stand trial.

Scarlett ordered the Edenfields and Dale to remain jailed without bail pending future court proceedings.

Christopher was abducted March 8 as he walked toward his home in the Canal Mobile Home Park. His body was discovered exactly one week later concealed inside a black plastic garbage bag hidden in woods about two miles from the mobile home park.

George Edenfield lived with his parents, in a mobile home on the path Christopher walked between the homes of his father and grandmother in the park.

Christopher's family and supporters arrived at the courthouse in white T-shirts with Christopher's picture on the front and a vow to obtain justice for him on the back. After deputy sheriffs said they could not wear the shirts into the courtroom, they scrambled for other clothing. His mother, Latrina Keith, left and returned wearing a red shirt over the T-shirt.

Sue Barrios angrily drove away and returned with new shirts for herself and her husband, Luis Rodriguez.

"I'm going to the Dollar Store to get me another shirt," she said. "I can't wear my baby's shirt."