When Brittney Gosney reported her 6-year-old son missing to Ohio police on Sunday, officers had no idea how the story would change later that day.
In a matter of hours, the case of a missing child became a homicide investigation. Authorities were sent to the Ohio River, where James Robert Hutchinson’s body was dumped. And his 29-year-old mother was charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
According to court records, Gosney told investigators with the Middletown Division of Police that she tried to abandon Hutchinson at Rush Run Park in Preble County on Friday. When he tried to get back in the car, she sped off, ran over him and dragged him “for a distance,” officials said.
Gosney returned to the scene about 30 minutes later, found him dead in a parking lot with a head injury, brought him to her home in Middletown and placed the body in an upstairs bedroom, according to the criminal complaint.
The next day, she and her boyfriend, 42-year-old James Hamilton, drove to an undisclosed location along the Ohio River and dumped the body in the water, the document said. Authorities still haven’t found his body.
Like Gosney, Hamilton was charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, police said. He does not face a murder charge.
A judge set Gosney’s bond at $1 million on Monday and Hamilton’s bond at $100,000, NBC affiliate WWBT reported. It was unclear Tuesday if they had attorneys.
Middletown police Chief David Birk said during a news conference Monday that Gosney was “not showing much remorse at this time.” No motive has been released in the case.
The next court hearing is scheduled for March 8.
Two other children living in the couple’s home were removed, according to police.
Middletown is a city about 38 miles north of Cincinnati.
