Boy’s body found near highway unidentified and unclaimed as mystery grows, cops say

UPDATE: Detectives have identified the boy as a 4-year-old from Lake Charles, Louisiana, and his mother has been arrested and charged with failure to report a missing child, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a case update.

The original story is below.

A child’s body turned up behind a welcome center in Louisiana, and the discovery became even more disturbing when investigators learned no children have been reported missing in the area, officials say.

The identity of the boy and how he died remains a mystery, according to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Witnesses visiting the Vinton Welcome Center along Interstate 10 reported the body around 3 p.m. on Monday, July 8, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. The welcome center is in southwest Louisiana, just across the Texas state line.

“When deputies arrived they observed a body floating in the water behind the welcome center,” officials said.

“The CPSO Marine Division responded and was able to recover the body. The initial investigation revealed the body to be that of an African American child.”

A coroner is working to determine a cause of death. “No obvious signs of injuries” were found by deputies, officials said.

Detectives are working to find an identity, something made more challenging by the transient nature of welcome centers visitors.

“We have checked with local agencies in our area as well as Texas and there appears to be no cases of a missing child reported that match the description,” Sheriff Stitch Guillory said in the release.

“We are asking anyone who may have information or anyone who may have been in the area of the Vinton Welcome Center and observed any suspicious activity, no matter how minimal it may seem, to call CPSO at (337) 491-3605.”

This story was originally published July 9, 2024 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Boy’s body found near highway unidentified and unclaimed as mystery grows, cops say."