A couple received life in prison for killing their son and feeding his body to pigs
Parents Michael and Heather Jones had abused, starved, and tortured their son, Adrian Jones. The couple usually dodged social workers by moving around between Missouri and Kansas.
The 7-year-old, Adrian Jones, reportedly notified social workers numerous times about the abuse from his father and step-mother, but agencies had a hard time doing anything about it because the family would constantly move after they refused to cooperate with child welfare services. Eventually, Adrian was "home-schooled," to further isolate the boy from the public, before the time of his death in Fall of 2015.
While in prison, the parents notified their landlord to save the surveillance footage so that they won't lose the family photos. The landlord browsed through the files and found something much more disturbing. She found that the couple had documented the child's abuse through photos and videos.
About 2 years before his death, Adrian notified Missouri Child welfare authorities about numerous abuses he suffered in the home, including one where he was kicked in the back of his head so hard that a "little bone" came out. Adrian's grandmother, Judy Conway, also had limited knowledge about the abuse that happened in the home. She made a promise to Adrian that she was going to keep him safe, but it never materialized.
The parents, Michael and Heather Jones were both sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole. They pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of their son Adrian Jones.
Today, the state of Missouri is focusing on a bill that would help authorities track down families that move across state lines in order to avoid child welfare services. In the 'Curls' amendment, there's a clause stating that it would give Missouri Children's Division additional flexibility to share documents and records between different departments across state lines. It would also make it more difficult for families to hide abused children, both biological and foster, from social workers. The bill was passed unanimously in March of 2018 by the Missouri Senate and then later by the Kansas House.
With a federal system in place that would freely share child welfare documents between state lines, children from abused families would be further protected. This means if a family had just moved into the state of Missouri, authorities would be able to easily obtain abuse records from social workers in other states.