Found Deceased MO - Titus Tackett, 3, Killarney Shores, 10 Feb 2016

[pepelepolecat]

Amber Tackett, the boy's mother, said she and an ex-boyfriend left the house for a late-night errand and returned about 1:30 a.m. to find a door open and Titus missing. The friend's father had been at the house. The Tacketts, of Potosi, were visiting the ex-boyfriend, who is not the boy's father.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_cdf2e9c8-339f-59a2-a736-829b5ee2e5e7.html

Is this different? I thought it was around midnight.

 

[mommylicious]

Here's my hang up, though. If harm came to the child, why not leave him in the woods? Why risk approaching a van right next to someone's house...that just happened to be unlocked? If he had been found in the woods, most people probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow beyond questioning the supervision that allowed him to get out. We'd be here talking about the tragedy of him getting out and lost in the woods instead of examining the whole scenario as suspicious.

As for the homeowner finding him, he could have left the door open, they could have opened it to put something in the backseat or gone to throw their purse back there....

 

[katydid23]

Here's my hang up, though. If harm came to the child, why not leave him in the woods? Why risk approaching a van right next to someone's house...that just happened to be unlocked? If he had been found in the woods, most people probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow beyond questioning the supervision that allowed him to get out. We'd be here talking about the tragedy of him getting out and lost in the woods instead of examining the whole scenario as suspicious.

As for the homeowner finding him, he could have left the door open, they could have opened it to put something in the backseat or gone to throw their purse back there....

It does seem very odd to place a child's body in a car. But I know of one recent case, can't remember the sweet baby's name right now---blocked it because she was raped and killed by her sick, twisted father, then placed in a car that he found nearby, that was unlocked. She was only a month old. :cry:

 

[travelbug]

Here's my hang up, though. If harm came to the child, why not leave him in the woods? Why risk approaching a van right next to someone's house...that just happened to be unlocked? If he had been found in the woods, most people probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow beyond questioning the supervision that allowed him to get out. We'd be here talking about the tragedy of him getting out and lost in the woods instead of examining the whole scenario as suspicious.

As for the homeowner finding him, he could have left the door open, they could have opened it to put something in the backseat or gone to throw their purse back there....

I am sitting on my hands and behaving, but "if" Titus was placed somewhere other than where he passed away the van could:
a) Cast suspicion on others
b) Avoid leaving footprints and evidence around the location
c) Most closely replicate the conditions under which he passed away
d) Make it more difficult for dogs to "track" his location

As usual :moo:

 

[white rabbit]

not speaking of that case, katydid, but mommylicious, in the same vein placing a child in the car is more "humane" (even one you intentionally or accidentally "harmed"). in a sick twisted mind, of course.

not saying that is the case here at all. just trying to find a reason (if that's the case here).

 

[white rabbit]

http://dailyjournalonline.com/news/...cle_ecd34be7-20df-51f4-85cf-4b07d4244282.html

funeral arrangements. guess where.

 

[Hatfield]

Here's my hang up, though. If harm came to the child, why not leave him in the woods? Why risk approaching a van right next to someone's house...that just happened to be unlocked? If he had been found in the woods, most people probably wouldn't raise an eyebrow beyond questioning the supervision that allowed him to get out. We'd be here talking about the tragedy of him getting out and lost in the woods instead of examining the whole scenario as suspicious.

As for the homeowner finding him, he could have left the door open, they could have opened it to put something in the backseat or gone to throw their purse back there....

This is a good question.
Lets assume for a minute that we are trying to coverup his passing and we want to make it look like he ran out the door and froze to death.

If we put him in someone else's vehicle would it help the cover story to make it look like he walked down the road and was trying to get warm in a vehicle OR would it be better to just leave him in the surrounding woods somewhere?

The problem with the woods is there would be no marks on his feet that showed he trampled through the woods unless he really did trample through the woods. It would be hard to do fake anything to the feet to make it look that way either.

With the vehicle method there still should be dirt on bottom of his feet from the road which may have been there already if he went barefoot a lot. So if boy naturally had a lot of dirt on the feet from going barefoot then walking the road would fit better I suppose.

That's the only thing I can come up with.

Its a good point though as it seems rather risky to go to someones house and open a car door to place him in it. What if they had a car alarm? Could they have possibly known there was not dogs or car alarm outside that house or a security light that would come on automatically?
Seems real risky.

But the problem I have with the boy going into the Van on his own is why didn't the boy just try to bang on the persons door of the house that was right there? Or even throw a rock at the window or something if he was crying and needed help? Wouldn't kids make a screaming fit on the porch of that house if they needed help?

 

[Hatfield]

not speaking of that case, katydid, but mommylicious, in the same vein placing a child in the car is more "humane" (even one you intentionally or accidentally "harmed"). in a sick twisted mind, of course.

not saying that is the case here at all. just trying to find a reason (if that's the case here).

Your idea better works for me and could be a reason.

If we assume foul play to coverup an accident then there is still much love there and the thought of leaving the boy anywhere in those deep dark woods would be inconceivable. Where a Van with a caring stranger that would find him by morning would be much more compassionate and almost "doable".

 

[DatelineFan]

You see this is what makes me wonder about the grandfather. I'm wondering if the grandfather even knew he was babysitting Titus. Most grandfathers are asleep at midnight. If he was even aware that he was babysitting Titus then he would have been awake and would have known if the baby ran out of a front door leaving it open for the cold to come in. If....and that is a big IF the baby did run out of the front door without closing it, then he had to have left just as you stated, ie., as soon as he realized that mom had driven off without him.

Most grandfathers? What does this mean? My grandparents were night owls. They used to stay up until 2am. My dad is now a grandfather, and he stays up late, as well. I don't think you/we can just make a blanket statement about "most grandfathers."

 

[Hoosgirl]

hoosgirl, re-read my post 487...I simply do not believe the coroner at this point. IMO his COD is a compromised conclusion.

potatoes, I probably agree with your unpostable theory.

I was posting in sarcasm (to clarify, not at you, at the coroner!)

My kid goes barefoot a lot. But not in the winter. He still is often without shoes, mind you, but at least wears socks when he goes outside.

I don't find it plausible at all to excuse anything by saying Titus was barefoot at lot. I don't think there is any way to say his bare feet were tough enough to make that walk, in that weather.

Maybe he did, in desperation to find his mom, but I think there would be signs of it on his feet.

I've posted previously my skepticism of non-doctor, non-pathologist coroners. Hopefully the actual pathologist who was also present is trained, certified and experienced!

 

[Hatfield]

Ive had this horrible thought that they may have come home and seen the door open and went looking for him and found him on the side of the road frozen to death.

But if something like that happened then why not just call 911?

It doesn't make sense to coverup anything if its an honest accident and since the autopsy so far has indicated no physical trauma it does make me lean towards the possibility the boy could have gone out on his own.

Just seems almost impossible the boy made that walk in freezing temps and especially with a house right there and even a couple other houses he would have passed that likely had lights on that he would have spotted from that road.

But when I try to think of why someone would try to coverup an accident then that seems unlikely too unless something like the toxicology report will uncover something we are not aware of.

This case is another real stumper.
So many of these cases like the Deorr case are very difficult. They seem easy at first but then they begin to get complex.

 

[Hoosgirl]

http://dailyjournalonline.com/news/...cle_ecd34be7-20df-51f4-85cf-4b07d4244282.html

funeral arrangements. guess where.

Oh my, so he JUST turned 3 on January 24th?

 

[Jackeee]

http://dailyjournalonline.com/news/...cle_ecd34be7-20df-51f4-85cf-4b07d4244282.html

funeral arrangements. guess where.

Not much information given. Not to be morbid, but I hope Titus isn't cremated, just in case further tests are needed. With the coroner knowing the family, do you think that another autopsy should be done by someone with no family connections?
I get confused sometimes about the roles of a coroner and a pathologist, so please bear with me.

 

[lonetraveler]

Most grandfathers? What does this mean? My grandparents were night owls. They used to stay up until 2am. My dad is now a grandfather, and he stays up late, as well. I don't think you/we can just make a blanket statement about "most grandfathers."

Certainly didn't mean for someone to feel like I was slamming grandfathers up for stating that most grandfathers would be sleeping at midnight. I slipped up and forgot to add JMO. My point was that grandpa may not have even realized he was babysitting. Parents may have told a sleepy grandpa that they were running to the store, baby was asleep and would be OK and grandpa just fell back asleep. The mother and baby were visiting and IMO, Grandpa probably wasn't use to how fast a little one can disappear.

Sent from my HTCD100LVWPP using Tapatalk

 

[DatelineFan]

Certainly didn't mean for someone to feel like I was slamming grandfathers up for stating that most grandfathers would be sleeping at midnight. I slipped up and forgot to add JMO. My point was that grandpa may not have even realized he was babysitting. Parents may have told a sleepy grandpa that they were running to the store, baby was asleep and would be OK and grandpa just fell back asleep. The mother and baby were visiting and IMO, Grandpa probably wasn't use to how fast a little one can disappear.

Sent from my HTCD100LVWPP using Tapatalk

No, I know. I added the smile because I thought it was kind of a funny assumption. I get it.

Anyway, it's definitely possible that he didn't know he was the only adult home. I really feel for him! What an awful burden to carry! I'm not blaming him at all, but if that's how it went down, he must be devastated.

 

[lonetraveler]

No, I know. I added the smile because I thought it was kind of a funny assumption. I get it.

Anyway, it's definitely possible that he didn't know he was the only adult home. I really feel for him! What an awful burden to carry! I'm not blaming him at all, but if that's how it went down, he must be devastated.

I'm a grandma and I stay up late as well but I'm overly protective when children are with me but I know that he could have been told that baby was down for the night and that they would be right back. I feel really bad for him.

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[Hatfield]

Not much information given. Not to be morbid, but I hope Titus isn't cremated, just in case further tests are needed. With the coroner knowing the family, do you think that another autopsy should be done by someone with no family connections?
I get confused sometimes about the roles of a coroner and a pathologist, so please bear with me.

I agree it would be best just to avoid the potential conflict of interest. It seems like other family members actually help with coroner cases and it makes you wonder about official training for the assistants or not.

"said his son, Drew Cole, who assists him in coroner cases and works with his father at the Cole Family Funeral Home in Ironton."

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_96fffe57-63b3-571e-856b-3b96c1909fa3.html

 

[Rayemonde]

I don't understand why someone would put him in the van either, if there was foul play. Why not just leave him on the sidewalk, or behind a wall, or under a bush?
What did they do, walk up and down the street trying every car door until they found one that was open? Far too risky. And it would also be too risky to approach a property with loose dogs - unless maybe they knew the people who lived there, knew the dogs and knew the vehicle would be unlocked.

 

[DropthePuck]

You see this is what makes me wonder about the grandfather. I'm wondering if the grandfather even knew he was babysitting Titus. Most grandfathers are asleep at midnight. If he was even aware that he was babysitting Titus then he would have been awake and would have known if the baby ran out of a front door leaving it open for the cold to come in. If....and that is a big IF the baby did run out of the front door without closing it, then he had to have left just as you stated, ie., as soon as he realized that mom had driven off without him.

According to the article below, the boy was left with the father of the ex-boyfriend and the ex-boyfriend is not the father of Titus. So this guy wasn't even Titus' grandfather. Anyways, one of my thoughts goes along with yours in that he may have had no idea he was babysitting. Plus, who knows how well he knew Titus? This may have been the first time the older man had met Titus and had no idea Titus was capable of being an escape artist. Or, maybe Titus woke up, discovered his mother was gone, found himself in a strange house with this man he barely knew, and who might've been sleeping, Titus panicked and ran out the front door looking for his mother. All JMO.

"Amber Tackett, the boy's mother, said she and an ex-boyfriend left the house for a late-night errand and returned about 1:30 a.m. to find a door open and Titus missing. The friend's father had been at the house. The Tacketts, of Potosi, were visiting the ex-boyfriend, who is not the boy's father."

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_cdf2e9c8-339f-59a2-a736-829b5ee2e5e7.html

 

[cobalt sky]

I think the video I saw was taken down. It was taken from a helicoptor. People were standing around. Looking in the van. Then an ambulance pulled up. An EMT walked over to the van with two bags. But I didn't see what happened after that.

There are a couple of still frames from it here (scroll down a bit)...

http://fox2now.com/2016/02/10/missing-iron-county-toddlers-body-found-in-a-van/

I think this is the video you are looking for Amy, a lot of great aerial views of the home, van, etc. There were a LOT of people there, some of them approach the van and appear to look in the back behind the driver's seat, I didn't notice anyone touching the van thank goodness.

http://fox2now.com/2016/02/10/toddler-reported-missing-in-iron-county/