Missing 12-Year-Old Found Dead In Attic Nearly 4 Years After He Vanished
Authorities in Buffalo, New York, have launched a homicide investigation after the body of a missing 12-year-old boy was discovered in an attic on Friday, nearly four years after he was reported missing.
A maintenance worker called Buffalo police Friday morning to report that he’d found a body ― later confirmed to be that of Jaylen Griffin ― in the attic of an apartment house where he was working, according to local NBC affiliate WGRZ.
Jaylen was reportedly last seen on Aug. 4, 2020, when he left his home to go to a grocery store and never returned.
Jaylen’s mother, Joanne Ponzo, died this past September. Tim Newkirk, who is close with Jaylen’s family, told local news outlet WIVB that Ponzo’s dying words were a request to keep searching for her son.
Medical examiners identified Jaylen’s body through dental records and determined he was in the attic for a “significant amount of time,” Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told reporters at a Monday press conference.
“Unfortunately, [the body] was found exactly one week before his 16th birthday,” Gramaglia said.
According to WGRZ, Jaylen’s body was found about five miles from where he was last seen. Neighbors in the area told WIVB they saw various residents move in and out of the building, and that police were there multiple times.
Jaylen’s grandmother, Shirley Banks, told ABC affiliate WKBW she has no idea how her grandson ended up at the house, saying he was not a runaway.
“Somebody had to take him there because there’s no way he could have walked there,” Banks said. “He don’t know nobody over there.”
Brian Griffin, Jaylen’s father, told WIVB that the discovery of his son’s remains has only opened up more questions for him.
“We all don’t know how long he’s been deceased, I’m sure there would’ve been some type of odor,” Griffin said.
Since Jaylen’s disappearance, the family has faced other tragedies. His brother Jawaan was shot and killed in front of their family home only three months after Jaylen went missing, WGRZ reported.
