Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Father of missing boy avows innocence after human remains found

Aaron Jones

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Updated Wednesday, April 26, 2017 | 10:45 p.m.

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Paul Darell Jones, 33, already in jail in an unrelated child abuse case, stays away from a video camera feed during an interview about his missing 13-year-old son at the Clark County Detention Center Wednesday, April 26, 2017. Jones was booked Thursday on a count of murder in the death of his son, according to Metro Police.

Investigators have not determined the identity of a severely decomposed, small-frame body found in a desert lot Tuesday by family members of a missing 13-year-old boy, who'd been out searching for him, but they suspect it belongs to him, according to Metro Police.

Aaron Jones' father, 33-year-old Paul Darell Jones, who is jailed in an unrelated child abuse case, said in an interview Wednesday night that his son ran away from home a "couple of months ago" and that he had nothing to do with his disappearance, adding that he didn't report him missing because he had a warrant out for his arrest.

Armed with flyers with a photo of Aaron, his family on Tuesday afternoon canvassed the area where the teen was last seen in late December, near an apartment complex where he once lived, police said.

When they walked to a desert area behind a complex in the 3600 block of Boulder Highway, they found human remains wrapped in plastic and with "small boulders" placed on top, police said. The state of decomposition had not allowed police on Tuesday to determine the gender or approximate age.

Questions regarding Aaron’s disappearance remained unanswered on Wednesday.

While his family, who told officials they'd last seen him in the last week of December, didn't report him missing, Clark County’s Child Protective Services did, but less than two weeks ago, police said.

It wasn’t immediately known why they didn’t go to police sooner, Officer Michael Rodriguez said, adding that the investigation continues.

There’s also Aaron’s father, Paul Jones, who’s been jailed at the Clark County Detention Center since April 1, serving time for a probation violation in a misdemeanor conviction of child abuse, neglect or endangerment, in a February 2015 case, records show. That case did not involve Aaron, Jones said.

As of Wednesday, police hadn't named Jones as a suspect. About Jones, Metro Lt. Dan McGrath said on Tuesday that his history of child abuse "raises a concern for everyone involved."

From jail, Jones, who didn't show his face in a video conference call, maintained his innocence, theorizing that Aaron may have left because "he kind of felt mad and didn't want to listen or nothing."

"He's a good kid," Jones said, adding that he liked to read and attend class at Bailey Middle School. Aside from the warrant, Jones said that he was battling homelessness and had a lot going on when his son disappeared.

The day Aaron went missing, "I was looking around, I checked the complex, I checked the stores, I checked all different places and he was nowhere to be found," Jones said. He further stated that he doesn't know of anyone who would want to hurt him.

"I think somebody must have picked him up or he probably did something around there and somebody did something to him. I don't know why everyone thinks it's me and I didn't have nothing to do with it," he said.

When asked why he didn't tell other family about Aaron missing, he said that he had no way of contacting his mother, who he said lives in Las Vegas as do several other family members. He said that once he was jailed, he reported Aaron missing.

"It's not me, because I treat all my kids the same. I love my kids. I would never hurt them," he said. "Not my oldest son, not my youngest son or anyone else."

Authorities in January issued a bench warrant for his arrest for apparently not complying with the conditions of his release in the 2015 child abuse case, which included classes for anger management and parenting, cooperation with CPS, curfew and no driving without proof of a license, records show.

His probation was formally revoked on Monday, a day before the body was discovered, and he's set to be released from jail in November, records show.

Details on that case were not readily available Wednesday.

Homicide detectives were interviewing Aaron's family to try to identify a timeline from the day he disappeared until the body was found, Lt. McGrath said on Tuesday. "There's a lot of moving pieces."

The body found was nearly skeletal, not immediately identifiable, and had possibly been in the desert for several months, McGrath said.

A photo in a flyer released by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shows the 5-foot-1 inch, 115-pound boy with a wide smile.

Further details were not immediately available.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro at 702-828-3521 or via email at [email protected]. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or online at crimestoppersofnv.com.