Amber-Leah Valentine and Jon Imes claimed their 16-year-old ran away, deputies. In truth, the couple discarded his dead body, according to authorities. (Mugshots: Mohave County Sheriff’s Office)
An Arizona couple allegedly discarded their 16-year-old son’s dead body and claimed he ran away, police said, announcing the arrests of the parents, as well as a third person charged with child abuse and aggravated assault in connection to the case.
Authorities said Monday that they are still determining the child’s cause of death, but they expect more charges.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were first dispatched on Feb. 25 to the 2300 block of Packard Avenue in the city of Kingman where Amber-Leah Valentine, 41, and Jon Imes, 41, claimed their 16-year-old son ran away from home.
“Deputies were told he was last seen the day prior (2/24) around 10:00 a.m.,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
Three days later, police were called when a body was found in the area of Anson Smith Road and Indian Canyon Road in Kingman.
“A deceased white male was located wrapped in a blanket behind a stone wall,” they wrote. “Detectives responded to the scene and the decedent was conveyed by The Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office. The identity of the deceased was unknown, and an autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause/manner of death.”
In the meantime, that death case remained unsolved. But on Thursday, Valentine called deputies, saying she just “freed” her 14-year-old daughter, according to the sheriff’s office. Valentine’s roommates — Richard Pounds, 34, and a woman– had been allegedly holding the girl captive. (Law&Crime is not naming this woman because she was not charged with a crime.)
Valentine and the girl were taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center, authorities said.
“Amber-Leah Valentine indicated that she and her husband, Jon Imes, had disposed of their 16-year-old son’s body at the previously mentioned location,” police wrote. “She admitted that she lied to Deputies when they reported him as a runaway and acknowledged that he was already deceased at the time of the report. During questioning, Jon Imes admitted to disposing of his son’s body and lying to Deputies about him running away.”
Detectives said they spoke with the 14-year-old girl at the hospital. She said Pounds shot her in the eye with a BB gun. She also made other claims of abuse in the home, deputies said. Authorities did not elaborate on these other accounts. The Arizona Department of Child Safety took the child into custody and she is receiving medical treatment. Meanwhile, Valentine and Imes were arrested and booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility for felony abandonment/concealment of a dead body.
Authorities said they executed a search warrant at the home in the 2300 block of Packard Avenue. Pounds and the female roommate were taken into custody and questioned at the sheriff’s office, they said.
“After questioning, Richard Pounds was arrested for felony Child Abuse and Aggravated Assault and booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Center,” they wrote.
A 14-year-old girl said Richard Pounds shot her in the eye with a BB gun, according to deputies. (Mugshot: Mohave County Sheriff’s Office)
They released the female roommate, pending investigation, they said.
The medical examiner’s office did the autopsy on Saturday to determine the cause of death. The results were pending, police said on Monday.
“This case remains under active investigation and additional charges are pending,” they wrote.
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