HORRIBLE

Georgia Man Arrested After His Children’s Bodies Found in Backyard

One child had only been missing for a few weeks—the other had disappeared years prior.

A Georgia man and three other adults were arrested last week after police found the bodies of two children buried on his property, authorities said. NBC News reports Wednesday that on December 20, investigators visited the home of Walmart Santa Elwyn Crocker Sr. to investigate the disappearance of his daughter Mary after receiving a tip from a concerned bystander. Family members on the scene provided conflicting information about the teen’s whereabouts—but Crocker eventually “gave information that led investigators to search the grounds of the home,” according to a press release from the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office. Police found Mary’s body, and the body of Crocker’s son, Elwyn Crocker Jr., who disappeared in November 2016. Neither of the children had ever been reported missing. A third child was found alive, and was brought to the hospital.

Crocker, his wife, the children’s step-grandmother, and the step grandmother’s boyfriend have been charged with concealing the death of another and cruelty to children in the first degree, although authorities note that more charges could be added once the children’s cause of death has been determined. “I’ve been doing this 41 years, and a while ago I almost broke down in tears,” the sheriff said, according to an NBC affiliate. “It’s that bad. I cannot understand how you do children like this. It’s horrible.”