An Arizona couple was charged this week with abandoning or concealing a body after they reported their 16-year-old son as a runaway, and his body was later found wrapped in a blanket and hidden behind a stone wall.
The incident led to the arrest of one of the couple’s roommates o charges of child abuse and aggravated assault and the continuing investigation into the actions of a second roommate, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.
The teen’s body was found on February 28, four days after Amber-Leah Valentine, 41, and Jon Imes, 41, reported that he’d run away from home.
Days later, Valentine called the sheriff’s office to say that she had just rescued her 14-year-old daughter from the roommates, who had allegedly been holding the teen captive. She requested medical treatment, and reportedly “indicated” to deputies that she and her husband (Imes) had lied about their son being a runaway and that they had put the boy’s body in the rug and hidden it.
Deputies questioned Imes, who reportedly admitted the same.
Meanwhile, the 14-year-old girl told deputies that one of the couple’s roommates, 34-year-old Richard Pounds, had shot her in the eye with a BB gun. She also gave accounts of other abuse in the home. Police contacted the state Department of Child Safety, and the girl is now receiving treatment at an undisclosed location.
Deputies served a search warrant on the home and took the roommates — Pounds and 39-year-old Shiban Guida — into custody. They were questioned, and Pounds was charged with child abuse and aggravated assault. Guida was released pending further investigation.
The sheriff’s office said further charges are expected as they await final results of an autopsy on the 16-year-old boy’s body.
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[Featured image: L-R, Richard Pounds, Amber-Leah Valentine, and Jon Imes/Mohave County Sheriff’s Office]
