The discovery near Belleville followed conflicting accounts about a boy whose mother said she had not seen him since 2024.
STOOKEY TOWNSHIP, Ill. — Investigators found the remains of a small child Wednesday in a wooded area near Belleville while searching for a boy at the center of a parental kidnapping case that began after his mother reported him missing in St. Louis.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department assigned homicide detectives to the death investigation as the St. Clair County Coroner’s Office worked to identify the remains and determine how the child died. The FBI, Illinois State Police, Desloge police and other agencies assisted in the search. Authorities had not publicly confirmed by Friday that the remains belonged to the missing boy.
The case stretches back to 2024, when the boy’s mother reported that she could no longer locate her child. St. Louis police said the parents shared custody and that the mother made an initial report with the department in July 2024 after last seeing the boy with his father in May. A probable cause statement later filed in St. Francois County said she had not seen the child since April 2024. The reason for the difference between those dates remained unclear. Police said detectives interviewed numerous people and tried to check accounts provided by both parents. The department described some of those statements as conflicting. Investigators eventually identified a person of interest, but police did not disclose that person’s name or explain what evidence led detectives in that direction.
The child’s father, Ronnell Marquese Jones, 32, and Kirstie Dora, 35, were arrested about a week before the remains were found. Authorities charged both with parental kidnapping and harassment in St. Francois County and ordered them held without bond. The charges concern the child’s disappearance and do not accuse either defendant of causing the child’s death. Court records said the mother told police that Jones refused to let her see the boy. She also said the child appeared to have missing teeth the last time she saw him. Investigators said Jones gave several explanations for where the boy was living. At one point, he reportedly said the child was in state custody. He later said he had left the boy with an Amish community in Mississippi but did not provide information that allowed officers to find him there.
Police said detectives spent months attempting to verify the accounts they received. In early 2025, investigators submitted an application for parental kidnapping charges to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors requested more investigative work before deciding whether to file a case, according to the police timeline. No St. Louis charge resulted at that stage. The investigation gained new momentum in June 2026 after the boy’s mother, Miranda Randazzo, filed another report with police in Desloge, a community in St. Francois County south of St. Louis. Desloge officers began working with St. Louis police and other agencies. Authorities have not said what new evidence came from the June report, but they said the expanded effort ultimately directed investigators toward Stookey Township in southwestern Illinois.
Police said they received information early in the week suggesting that a child might be buried in a rural wooded area. Investigators obtained a search warrant and searched the property Wednesday. They found the remains during that operation. Authorities did not disclose who supplied the information, when they believe the child was placed there or whether the location had any known connection to Jones or Dora. They also did not describe evidence recovered near the remains. Stookey Township lies west of Belleville in St. Clair County, placing the burial site across the Mississippi River from St. Louis and outside the Missouri counties where the missing-child reports and kidnapping charges originated.
The discovery created several separate but connected proceedings. The St. Clair County Coroner’s Office began forensic examinations intended to establish the child’s identity, cause of death and manner of death. St. Louis homicide detectives took responsibility for the criminal death investigation, while federal, state and local agencies continued providing support. Prosecutors in St. Francois County remained responsible for the pending parental kidnapping and harassment cases. Authorities had not announced murder, abuse or concealment charges as of Friday. They also had not said whether the existing charges could be amended after the forensic work is completed.
Investigators must also establish where the child died, a finding that could determine which prosecutor has jurisdiction over any death-related charges. The missing-child reports originated in Missouri, while the remains were recovered in Illinois. Police have not said whether they believe the wooded property was the site of the death or only the place where the remains were left. The FBI’s involvement gives investigators access to federal resources during a case that crossed state lines, but federal officials had not announced a separate federal charge. Authorities also had not released the child’s age, full name or a detailed physical description.
Residents near the search area said the discovery disturbed a community more familiar with quiet roads and wooded properties than large police operations. Brooke Bodendieck said the length of time between the child’s disappearance and the recovery of the remains was difficult to understand. “It’s shocking that it took a while from the time they reported the disappearance to when they found the body,” she said. Sam Griffin, who said Jones had been his neighbor in St. Louis’ Ville neighborhood, recalled seeing him work on cars. Griffin said he struggled to understand how a child could end up buried so far from home.
Randazzo had posted repeatedly on social media about her missing son and called for a broader police response before the remains were discovered. Police have not said when investigators last independently verified that the boy was alive or whether any person outside the family reported seeing him after spring 2024. Those questions are expected to remain central as detectives compare interviews, electronic records, travel information and forensic evidence. Officials have also not explained how long the remains may have been at the Stookey Township site.
The coroner’s identification and autopsy findings are the next major steps in the case. Jones and Dora remained jailed without bond on the kidnapping and harassment charges Friday while homicide detectives continued reconstructing the child’s movements and the events that led investigators to the Illinois woods.
Author note: Last updated July 10, 2026.