An investigation is underway by Oregon authorities into the disappearance and death of a 5-year-old boy, which is now being treated as a homicide based on court documents associated with the case.
The boy, identified as Joshua McCoy, had autism and was unable to speak. He went missing from his residence in North Bend on November 9. His mother, Angela German, informed investigators that she had taken a long nap, and upon waking up, discovered that he was no longer there.
After an extensive search effort, the child’s body was found three days later approximately two miles away from the residence, as reported by KOBI. He was found naked, concealed under vegetation roughly 20 feet from the edge of a road.
An affidavit filed in support of a search warrant for German’s home and car said that the boy was not muddy except for some dirt on his hands and had no scratches or other marks on his legs or feet. The medical examiner wrote that the child’s body had “no signs of trauma, no petechia, and no scratches or cuts that would be consistent with Joshua walking through the briars or blackberry bushes.”
Investigators also found tire marks in the mud nearby. German’s car was found to have muddy tires, and the search warrant called for it to be seized for a forensic examination.
According to court records, German initially told police that she fell asleep at about 1:30 p.m. on November 9 and discovered her son missing at about 3. In the same interview, she said she fell asleep at about 10 a.m. and woke up at 1 p.m. She later admitted taking barbiturates and ketamine to help her sleep.
When she awoke, she called a friend in Utah and told her that Joshua was missing. That friend called the Coos County Sheriff’s Office, saying that German had called her and not police because of previous “bad experience with law enforcement,” the documents said.
The search warrant affidavit said that the friend told investigators that German and Joshua lived with her in Utah but she asked her to leave about two weeks earlier because of her treatment of the boy.
Court documents also said the the Oregon Department of Human Services had been investigating German’s alcohol use and had recently issued a pick up order for the boy. The Utah Department of Human Services was also investigating German.
The search warrant affidavit said that there was probable cause to believe German might be involved in the boy’s murder, but officials could not confirm that.
Coos County Sheriff Gabe Fabrizio told KEZI that while detectives were investigating the death as a murder, they have no suspects.
