AWFUL

Grandfather: Remains at New Mexico Compound Belong to Missing Boy

The boy initially disappeared last December.

The grandfather of Abdul-ghani Wahhaj, the 3-year-old boy whose father was arrested Monday at a “filthy” New Mexico compound on charges of child abuse, has told reporters that the yet-unidentified remains found at that site belong to his grandson. Abdul-ghani initially went missing last December in Georgia, the Associated Press reports, after his father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, told the boy’s mother that he needed to be exorcized. The father told her he was taking the boy to a park, but never returned. Although officials have not confirmed that the remains belong to Abdul-ghani, the grandfather claims that children found at the compound last week have said the little boy died and was buried. After a Friday raid on the compound, where officials found 11 children clothed in rags, five adults—including Siraj Ibn—were arrested on charges of child abuse. Siraj Ibn was also accused of teaching the children at the compound to commit school shootings. The child’s remains were found when authorities returned Monday, the same day that Abdul-ghani would have turned four.