Pair facing charges after boy's body found in Utah

[Blue_Tires]

Source: AP

LAYTON, Utah – The body of a missing 4-year-old boy was found in a Utah canyon and his mother and stepfather were taken into custody, police said.

Ethan Stacy's stepfather, Nathan Sloop was being charged with aggravated homicide, Layton police said Tuesday. In addition, Sloop and the boy's mother, Stephanie Sloop, will be charged with felony child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse, police said.

Stephanie Sloop, 27, reported Ethan missing around 9 p.m. Monday, saying he had left his bed and wandered from their apartment complex. Officials said she told them the boy had walked away five of the last 10 nights.

"That appears to have been a ruse by the mother, something to cover the tracks," said Layton police Lt. Garret Atkin.

Police searched overnight and said that by midday Tuesday, the couple had revealed the location of Ethan's body. The search then shifted 20 miles away to a spot off a wooded trail in Wolf Canyon, which borders the Powder Mountain ski resort, about 40 miles northeast of Salt Lake City.

It wasn't clear as searchers were digging up remains when Ethan was killed or how, police said Tuesday. Five officers were seen carrying a blue bag out of the woods late Tuesday afternoon.

Atkin refused to describe the condition of the boy's body.

The couple was married only 10 days ago, when Ethan arrived in Utah to spend the summer with his mother, police said. His biological father is in Virginia. His name was not released by police.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_boy_utah;_ylt=Aofgrjmk9ijdbGbN4q7bk7SGOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTM4bXZzc2c3BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTEyL3VzX21pc3NpbmdfYm95X3V0YWgEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM2BHBvcwM2BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDcGF

[get the red out]

1. Tom-cat killing

There are way too many of what I call tom cat killings. It's like when I was 5 and my cat had kittens and a new tom came roaming around and killed them, it seems so often the new husband or boyfriend appears and the child from the previous relationship disappears, or is laying in a hospital nearly beaten to death. I see it on our local news constantly but the tiny ones that die quickly from being shaken or struck don't get the press of an older kid's murder that someone tried to cover up. And yes, the mothers are often involved in the deaths or at least frequently try to cover for the murderer. Sad that it seems so common now.

[izquierdista]

3. Lions too

It is standard procedure for a new lion taking over a pride to get rid of his predecessor's DNA. And statistics back it up with humans too. Step-children are in MUCH higher danger from step-fathers and boyfriends than they are from biological fathers. It's not more common now, just better reported.

[eilen]

4. I know I felt more insecure/less safe when alone with

the step family even though I had never been physically abused by them. I would always look to stay over a friend's house when my mother was away.

My brother in law and his brother were abused by their stepmother. Their father deferred to her.

I would never put a child of mine in that situation. I told my husband when we had our son, that is it, divorce is not an option. When kids are in intact families they are considered an investment for the future. When they are in broken families they are considered another monthly expense.

[Democat]

5. Too often the mother allows it to happen and goes unpunished

You see cases in the news all the time where the mother likely knew what was going on with various types of abuse, but in the end she doesn't face any charges when the man involved ends up killing or seriously harming her kid. Both parties should be punished in these situations.

[ima_sinnic]

2. if they killed him--throw away the friggin key

just get them out of society. put them in small cages on top of fire-ant nests in the sun with no clothes on. let them rot somewhere. let them start gnawing their own limbs for food, who cares?

but first make sure it was really one or both.

[jaksavage]

6. Sterylize them first. nt