WE’RE VERY SORRY… – Officials have shared a heartbreaking update in the search for 15-year-old Ja’Derrius Minnieweather, saying there is “strong evidence” that his b0dy may be inside the North Landfill.
BATON ROUGE — With his family at their sides, BRPD and Mayor-President Sid Edwards said Friday that evidence indicates that missing teen Ja’Derrius Minnieweather’s body is in a nearby landfill.
Police Chief T.J. Morse said investigators believe Minnieweather was murdered and his body was collected by a garbage truck and taken to the North Landfill.
“It’s troubling to imagine,” he said.
Edwards said “strong evidence” that Minnieweather’s body is in the landfill has prompted authorities to involve FBI experts from Louisiana and Quantico, Va. in the recovery effort.
“It’s very difficult. It’s not going to happen overnight,” Edwards explained. “A recovery effort of this magnitude takes massive time.”
It’s now been three weeks since 15-year-old Minnieweather was last seen. Minnieweather was reported missing by his family after they said he was last seen in the early morning hours of June 5th. Since then, Maurice Parms has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Minnieweather. He was denied bond on June 22. That was the second time he was arrested in 10 days.
“All of our evidence leads to a violent attack that occurred with Mr. Parms on Ja’Derrius, which led to him killing him,” Morse said in a news conference when Parms was arrested. However, Minnieweather’s body had not been found at the time that Parms was charged with first-degree murder.
The chief said that Parms has not given investigators any information of where Minnieweather’s body is, but through continued investigation, detectives have what he called “significant evidence” that the remains are at the North Landfill.
Morse said the landfill search presents a daunting task that will involve several local agencies as well as the Louisiana National Guard and the United Cajun Navy.
The landfill covers 400 acres and gets as much as 1,600 tons of trash daily from 325 trash trucks, officials said on Friday. With expertise, police believe they may be able to narrow down Minnieweather’s location to a particular half-acre of the site.
Morse said it is now an active crime scene and investigators are working to restrict air space over the landfill as the search continues. All media and people are asked to stay away from the area. He said he hopes to complete the search of the area they have identified within about the next two weeks.
Fire Chief Mike Kimble said firefighters will be assisting, in part because a landfill always has hazardous materials in it.
“It is a nasty environment,” Kimble said.
Searchers will have to wear insulated suits to protect them from the dangers of the landfill. The downside of that protection is that it’s June in Louisiana and the suits are hot.
District Attorney Hillar Moore said that the concern and empathy for the loss the Minnieweather family is experiencing led several prosecutors — who are already overloaded with cases — to offer to handle the Parms prosecution. He’s seen that same spirit from the police officers and others involved in the case.
An arrest warrant for Parms outlines that Minnieweather went to visit a 16-year-old girl, a long-time friend of his, on a small kid’s bike on Thursday evening, June 4. She was out to grab some fast food with Parms, the warrant said, so Minnieweather waited on her. But when the duo returned, Minnieweather and Parms got into a ‘very tense disagreement.’
“Detectives believe that Minnieweather was caught in a confrontation with Parms where he was killed in this struggle. It is believed that Parms stashed the body, that he threw away evidence, came back to retrieve evidence and possibly the victim’s body and transported them elsewhere in his mentioned vehicle,” Parms’ warrant said.
READ NOW: Detailed timeline of events based on arrest warrant
READ MORE: Police, volunteers search landfill for missing teen
“He loved to hang out with his friends and family, love to beg for money,” Minnieweather’s aunt Aquarius told UWK during the search. “He did the typical things that a teenager would do.”
Aquarius said the first week when Minnieweather did not show up was out of the ordinary for him.
“He has never not come home or let his phone be dead for this long,” she told UWK. “It seemed like he’d almost have a panic attack trying to put his phone on the charger and come back on. And if it did die and he wasn’t around his charger, he’d use one of his friend’s phones and contact me and let me know he’s on his way home.”
Aquarius said the last time she heard from Minnieweather was on Thursday, June 4. She told UWK she wants some kind of closure. “I love him.”
