Human remains found in home identified as missing toddler: police
SAN ANTONIO - The human remains of a Texas toddler who has been missing for months have been found, police and the boy’s family confirmed Wednesday.
James Chairez, who would be 20 months old, had not been seen by family members since Thanksgiving, San Antonio police said.
Chairez’s great aunt, Mariesol Benavidez-Gomez, posted a video on Facebook Wednesday, confirming that human remains found on April 28 at a mobile home where the boy lived with his mother have been positively identified as Chairez.
"The results are in. And even though my mind said, ‘I knew it was already James,’ but my heart wasn’t ready to let go," Benavidez-Gomez said, choking back tears. "The remains that were found at the mobile home are James."
Benavidez-Gomez said she was told by authorities an autopsy is pending to determine the boy’s official cause of death.
SAPD confirmed the findings and the identification in a statement to Fox News. They said an investigation is ongoing and did not provide further details.
Chairez’s last sighting was on Jan. 4 security footage with his mother at a Walgreens store. His mother, 20-year-old D’lanny Chairez, has been spotted several times on security video – but without her son, according to a police affidavit.
James Chairez, right, and his mother, D'lanny Chairez. (San Antonio Police Department)
Police arrested the mother in mid-March on charges of abandoning or endangering a child, court records show. A grand jury indicted her on those charges on April 20, KSAT reported. It remains unclear what additional charges she may face in her son's death.
Authorities had searched a mobile home where the boy lived with his mother multiple times. The affidavit states that investigators found human blood on a crib sheet, as well as his car seat, stroller and other baby items.
The boy’s remains were not found until April 28, SAPD said.
James’ father and maternal grandmother are both serving prison terms for the homicides of other family members, according to local media.
The grandmother, Patricia Flores, pleaded guilty to murder charges for failing to bring a 2-year-old grandchild to the hospital for nearly a week after the boy was severely scalded by hot water across much of his body, Fox 29 San Antonio reported. When she finally did call 911, police found him unresponsive, and he was later declared deceased.
The father, Matthew James Dempsey, was convicted in 2019 of slashing his own mother’s throat after he and an accomplice beat her with a baseball bat, according to the San Antonio Express-News.