LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say a South Carolina man has confessed to killing his five children, and then dumping their bodies wrapped in trash bags along a rural road in Alabama.
Timothy Jones will be charged with five counts of murder. Officials believe he acted alone.
Jones was stopped at a traffic checkpoint in Mississippi on Saturday and charged with driving under the influence. When authorities ran his license plate, they discovered that Jones and his five children had been reported missing by their mother. But it would be another three days before he led authorities to the bodies.
The children were last seen Aug. 28. The older children were at school, and Jones picked up his younger kids at daycare. He was to return the children to their mother’s home Sept. 2, but never showed up.
The children’s bodies have been taken back to South Carolina for autopsies. Officials won’t comment on any causes of death until the autopsies are completed.
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296-a-05-(Sgt. Steve Jarrett, spokesman, Alabama State Troopers, with reporters)-“to this location”-Alabama State Trooper Sgt. Steve Jarrett says a man suspected of killing his five children in South Carolina has led authorities to their bodies in Alabama. COURTESY: WSFA.com ((mandatory on-air credit)) (9 Sep 2014)
< APPHOTO JX303: In this image taken from video on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014, Smith County Sheriff’s Deputies escort Timothy Ray Jones Jr., from jail in Raleigh, Miss. Jones, of Lexington County, S.C., is expected to be extradited back to South Carolina on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014, and charged with murder in the deaths of his five children after he led authorities to a secluded clearing in Alabama on Tuesday, where their bodies were found wrapped in garbage bags. (AP Photo/WLBT, Tegre Taylor) JACKSON, MISS., OUT: LOCAL TV OUT: LOCAL ONLINE OUT: LOCAL MEDIA OUT: MANDATORY CREDIT. (10 Sep 2014) < APPHOTO SCRS103: Photos of Timothy Ray Jones Jr. children are on display during a news conference at the Lexington County Sheriff’s Dept Training Center in Lexington, S.C., Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014. Jones Jr., 32, will be charged with murder in the deaths of his five children after he led authorities to a secluded clearing in Alabama, where their bodies were found wrapped in garbage bags, a sheriff said Wednesday. (AP Photo/ Richard Shiro) (10 Sep 2014) < Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.