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

[DatelineFan]

LE stated in the presser that it was roughly a mile.

Wow! That's pretty far barefoot in below freezing temperature! And thanks, I can't watch at work.

 

[Ontario Mom]

its been known to happen. The case with Elijah I mentioned a few posts above, it was -33c with the windchill that night, aka -27.4F. He left an apartment building, but iirc he could have at least got back in the first set of doors. He certainly didn't make it a mile though... He was about 300 meters from the building he left. I keep wondering if the initial 1/4 mile was accurate and the later "about a mile" was just what they said off hand at the presser. It certainly would make a difference.

Heartbreaking case that was - especially seeing how he was dressed on the surveillance footage

In baby Titus' case, the blanket covering him throws me. If that blanket didn't belong to the van owner (and they would have asked "is this your blanket?") and wasn't placed over him by any of the first responders, and it wasn't his or taken from the grandfather's home (all things that will be ruled out, or in, as it were) only then would LE decide it was foul play.

But so far I haven't seen any answers on that in the links I've read. That aside, it's 14F outside at my house right this minute. The animals won't even go out for a potty. And we're to believe this little guy strolled a mile down the road in his diaper, at this temp? I suppose it's possible, but I find it rather unlikely.

 

[Hoosgirl]

Yes, I keep being reminded of Elijah Marsh, who left his GP apartment in the middle of the night, freezing temps, diaper-clad with boots and a t shirt, and wandered a very populated area of Toronto, only to be found in someone's yard approx 300m away without vitals. No one saw him wandering, and that's in a city. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02/19/toronto-police-searching-for-missing-3-year-old-boy.html

I thought of him too, but he was found so close. A mile seems so far. But I guess there is always a first, as unbelievable as it may seem.

 

[JeannaT]

I am speculating here, but I don't believe the two parents are actually a couple, and I believe a different man is Titus' father. I think the father mentioned is the father of the younger sibling, but may have played a stepfather role to Titus. This is all just to say that I'm not sure how familiar Titus would be with the house he was staying in. So if he woke up and wanted his mommy and she wasn't there, he may have set out walking to find her. If the "grandfather" actually was a relative stranger, that may have created an urgency in Titus to seek her out on his own. That's the only scenario I can think of right now that is somewhat plausible for such a little guy to go out in the bitter cold in just a diaper/underwear and get about a mile away. I'm trying not to think of more sinister scenarios until more information comes out.

I agree, it's possible that this happened, but I struggle with it. For a barely 3 year old to walk naked in 15 degree weather for a mile, and then find a van unlocked that he was able to open (and close, apparently, or the owners would have noticed IMMEDIATELY in the morning that something was amiss) and then curl up under blankets . . . pushes this to the limits of believability. If this were a 7 year old child, I'd say very believable. A barely 3 year old, that's hard to believe.

 

[CanadianWells]

Heartbreaking case that was - especially seeing how he was dressed on the surveillance footage

In baby Titus' case, the blanket covering him throws me. If that blanket didn't belong to the van owner (and they would have asked "is this your blanket?") and wasn't placed over him by any of the first responders, and it wasn't his or taken from the grandfather's home (all things that will be ruled out, or in, as it were) only then would LE decide it was foul play.

But so far I haven't seen any answers on that in the links I've read. That aside, it's 14F outside at my house right this minute. The animals won't even go out for a potty. And we're to believe this little guy strolled a mile down the road in his diaper, at this temp? I suppose it's possible, but I find it rather unlikely.

I hated being reminded of Elijah. Being close to home for us, plus that footage, made it a very emotional one for me.
The van and the blanket do make me wonder too, but as nothing's been said yet, I'm not wondering a whole lot. I wish I could get concrete proof of the distance. I keep googling for maps, to no avail. The live coverage stated 1/4 mile, and they were on-scene, and a few MSM are still saying that. I keep hoping it was just 1/4 mile walk, then a nap for Titus. I realize that it's possible he could get a mile, but I find it so improbable that it throws me more than anything else. And I don't want there to be foul play. Not again.

 

[Hatfield]

I wish we had the address of original location and ending location so we could see the roads between the 2 points.

I would also like to know if there was any police reports of car alarms going off that night in the general location.

 

[CanadianWells]

I wish we had the address of original location and ending location so we could see the roads between the 2 points.

I would also like to know if there was any police reports of car alarms going off that night in the general location.

:tyou::tyou: YUSSS.

 

[menmo]

I live in SW Missouri and around here some of the rural people will say as the crow flies when speaking of distance. Such as one quarter mile as the crow flies or one mile driving distance.

Just wanting so bad for there to be no foul play because quite frankly I'm sick and tired of foul play.

JMO

 

[4senthia]

This is so very sad but mind-boggling to me.
How could he get to the van and shut the door and cover himself with a blanket yet have died from exposure? I know it's possible but very weird.
I also am so tired of foul play and am hoping this was just an accident. Noah Chamberlin got quite a ways, but it was a sunny day that turned into a cold night.
It also bothers me that Titus went out into the dark.
jmo

 

[DatelineFan]

I'm trying so hard to be... Positive? But the more I think about this, the more skeptical I become. I hope this is a terrible accident! Now that I know it was a mile, I'm having a hard time. Also, it was COLD. I can see him getting to the door, but turning right back when the cold air hit his skin. It's difficult to get past that. The brother I mentioned earlier was pretty wild, but I struggle to picture him (or any 3 year old) doing this... What the heck happened?

 

[Deleted member 50844]

Was this a dirt road or paved road? IE: would he be walking over rocks with bare feet?

 

[Kairi'sMom]

Poor baby Titus.

It is pretty strange for a child to just go outside in that kind of weather, but if he was sleepwalking it's possible he got pretty far away, woke up and got in that van because he was lost.
My son was a sleepwalker and got himself into a very sticky situation that could have ended very badly.

 

[CanadianWells]

Was this a dirt road or paved road? IE: would he be walking over rocks with bare feet?

From the pics I've seen, the main road appears to be paved, but the driveway where the van was parked is dirt. It's hard to tell, but that's the impression I got.

 

[JeannaT]

This is so very sad but mind-boggling to me.
How could he get to the van and shut the door and cover himself with a blanket yet have died from exposure? I know it's possible but very weird.
I also am so tired of foul play and am hoping this was just an accident. Noah Chamberlin got quite a ways, but it was a sunny day that turned into a cold night.
It also bothers me that Titus went out into the dark.
jmo

Inside the van, after dark, it would have been 15 degrees also. Covering himself with a simple blanket wouldn't have saved him. He would have needed a serious polar sleeping bag, in 15 degree weather, to survive the night.

 

[sonjay]

Absolutely! When my daughter was 3 she figured out how to push a chair up to the front door and unlock it. She once got outside when I was in the bathroom and went down the street to her little friend's house. In her nightie with her stuffed animal. Thank goodness the friend's mom called me (instead of social services!) That day we put a latch at the top of the door and it never happened again.

Same thing happened to a neighbor. Her son got out in the middle of the night. Parents had just separated and the dad moved out. Little guy was 2 years old and got out of our neighborhood and was walking along a dark street and got hit by a car. Thankfully he was ok. He said later he was just "walking to daddy's house." Please put a latch on your door that your babies can't reach!

About 20 years ago or so, in my neighborhood there was a 3-year-old boy who snuck into his parents' bedroom in the middle of the night while they were asleep, took the car keys from the dresser, then snuck out of the house and took the car for a joyride. He made it pretty far before running off the road and into a ditch.

Then a few months later that same boy was playing with a lighter and burned their house down. (I don't think anyone was hurt or killed.)

As far as I recall, this was a normal family with normal, loving parents who happened to have a kid who was far too mischievous for his own good.

 

[Deleted member 718]

I'd go get cigarettes at midnight if I realized I was completely out.

FWIW I read a post from a local that said all the stores close up at midnight.

 

[Hatfield]

Was this a dirt road or paved road? IE: would he be walking over rocks with bare feet?

After much hunting with Google Maps, I believe I have found where the boy was found.

I belive it is right near the Intersection of Collins Lane + Route 72 which is near Lake Killarney, MO

The Post 63 today shows a helicopter shot and it seems to match the Google maps sattelite view.

Now if we can just figure out where his starting point was.

 

[white rabbit]

ok sorry sonjay, but that is way far from normal. JMO. a three year old committing grand theft auto and felony arson? seriously?

i have to disagree with other posters too. it's not normal to lose your child to the elements while you are on a midnight "errand" leaving the child with grandparents who don't speak up and either fell asleep or are taking blame. finding your child deceased under any circumstance is completely abnormal at best. i'm done here...prayers for titus, may you rest in the peace you deserve little one...

 

[sonjay]

ok sorry sonjay, but that is way far from normal. JMO. a three year old committing grand theft auto and felony arson? seriously?

i have to disagree with other posters too. it's not normal to lose your child to the elements while you are on a midnight "errand" leaving the child with grandparents who don't speak up and either fell asleep or are taking blame. finding your child deceased under any circumstance is completely abnormal at best. i'm done here...prayers for titus, may you rest in the peace you deserve little one...

Seriously.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19931114&id=eK1NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gPwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6966,1962825&hl=en

ETA:

I didn't remember that it was only a month after the joyride that he burned down the house, nor did I remember the complaint about lack of supervision. But I remember the joyride and the burned-down house. They lived just about a mile or so from where I lived at the time. It was a middle-class suburban neighborhood filled with normal middle-class suburban people.

 

[luvhockey]

looks to be about 1/2mile from the Grandfather's house to that house at Collins Ln