UPDATE, 9:00 p.m.| During a press conference, Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman explained the charges Jones is facing, saying more charges will likely follow on Monday afternoon.
Nothing that, "The crime scene probably needs to be reexamined. Vehicles need to be reexamined. I guess what I'm saying is a lot of work to be done."
For Gorman, this case bringing to mind one 15 years ago involving a man named Mark Sappington.
"He had killed three people and cut them up and was convicted of those three murders. I kind of parallel it to that.," Gorman said. "That was a difficult case to prosecute. This is probably the worst that I've seen since that."
Now the investigation will entail examining all of the phones, tablets, computers and other electronic devices found at the scene as detectives reexamine the home and cars there.
An autopsy has been completed.
Gorman said, "Some information has come out of that. We're consulting with other forensic experts, a forensic anthropologist, and the result of that still isn't known."
Those experts will ask questions like, "Where the body had been laying, was it exposed to the elements, was it wet, was it dry, was it underground, was it on the surface and had it been messed with at all by wild animals?"
According the Dr. Lee Norman, a chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Hospital, "You'd have a good idea on for example if it's a child, on their age by the length of the long bones. If there's been any remarkable dental features; cavities, fillings, those kinds of things."
Six girls, from about one and a half to ten years old, are all in protective custody as KCK police investigate their living conditions. The court will determine where they go next.
41 Action News confirmed the Kansas Department of Children and Families has been contacted in regard to the family previously, along similar agencies in at least one other state.
As for the mother of AJ, KCK police have been trying to get in touch with her but have not at this time since Michael Jones had custody of him.
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UPDATE, 10:54 a.m. 11/30 - Mike Jones, accused of battery and child abuse, wrapped up his first court appearance on Monday.
Not much transpired during the first hearing. He signed some papers and went back to jail.
His next hearing is 9 a.m. on December 8.
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UPDATE, 11/30 - Mike Jones is due in court on Monday.
Watch below for the latest on this case. (MOBILE USERS: Watch in our video player above).
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ORIGINAL STORY
Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome A. Gorman filed criminal charges against Michael A. Jones Friday.
According to a news release from the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office, Jones, 44, is charged with one count of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count of child abuse in connection with events that happened on Nov.25 at a residence on 99th Street.
The news release states Jones is accused of “torturing or cruelly beating his 7-year-old son.” Jones is also accused of battering and assaulting a 29-year-old woman, also residing at the residence.
The news release states the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department is investigating the Nov. 25 incident, as well as a report that a 7-year-old boy has died. The investigation is proceeding, and police are consulting with forensic experts concerning the examination of human remains found in a barn at the 99th Street residence. The news release states initial reports are that Jones did have a 7-year-old son from a previous relationship, and that son is missing.
Jones is affiliated with a bail bonding company that operates in northeast Kansas.
The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office said bond has been set at $10 million.
The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office’s news release states forensic examiners will be asked to report on the identity of the remains as well as other findings.
Michael Williams, the brother of Jones' wife, spoke exclusively to 41 Action News. He told us they have been together for about nine years, living what seemed to be a normal life in their KCK home, but inside there was physical, mental and emotional abuse.
"There are bullet holes in the walls of that house. So I'm sure you can understand what terror may have been going through that household daily," Williams said. "She's horrified, still terrified of losing her children. She's still in fear for her own life and the lives of her kids."
Former babysitters for the Jones family paint a different picture, saying the step-mother of the missing boy did nothing to protect him.
"She said she hated that child, did not want him there, wanted him gone but just didn't know how to do it,” one former babysitter said. “She said it wouldn't be hard to say he went missing because they lived out where they lived which doesn't, isn't really wasn't around too many people."
Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
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