Ten-year-old Jesse Wilson went missing in July 2016. His remains were found in March 2018. His adoptive mother, Crystal Wilson, is now in custody.
The adoptive mother of a deceased 10-year-old boy has been arrested on charges in connection to the boy’s 2016 disappearance.
Crystal Wilson, 54, the adoptive mother of Jesse Wilson, has been indicted on one count of abandonment or concealment of a body in connection to Jesse’s disappearance, according to Buckeye Police Department.
Jesse was reported missing in July 2016. After continuous searches from police and volunteers, his remains were finally found in March 2018, police said.
In 2020 the Buckeye Police Department tasked a new investigator to explore new ideas and later submitted the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, according to police.
“All of our leads led back to Crystal being responsible in the investigation,” said Buckeye Police Chief Larry Hall in a press conference.
Hall said that DNA, technology, and visual evidence all placed Crystal at the location where they found Jesse’s remains. Due to the lack of evidence from the remains and the scene, police and the county attorneys believe the best charge is one count of abandoning or concealing a body, said Hall.
“There was no information provided in the recovery of him that would support additional charges,” explained Hall. “This was the best most fitting charge at this time.”
Crystal was arrested and is in custody in Gainesville, Georgia, where she has lived for the past several years, and is expected to be extradited to Maricopa County for prosecution, said Hall.
“We would just like to thank everyone that has put their time and effort in as a team to bring this to justice,” said Jesse’s biological grandmother, Cynthia Lauderdale, at the press conference.
