Police said Friday they have found remains of a small child believed to be Colton Brandt Turner, a missing 2-year-old boy.
STAR Flight and officers spent Friday searching for Turner and found the remains around 2:05 p.m., police say. They were searching Southeast Austin, near Felton Lane and Burleson Road, after the Austin Police Department received a tip regarding the boy’s whereabouts.
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said they are no longer looking for a missing child, they are investigating a death. Acevedo said in a press conference that police are as certain as they can be that the remains are Turner, but they have a lot of work ahead of them to make sure.
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Cedar Park Police Chief Sean Mannix said the case would be handed over to APD, since the remains were found in Austin.
On Friday afternoon, Williamson County officials said 20-year-old Meagan Work, Turner’s mom, is being held in the booking area of the Williamson County Jail. Investigators said Friday that Work gave police inconsistent accounts of the child’s whereabouts and told them she hadn’t seen the boy since July.
Acevedo said Work is a person of interest in Turner’s death. Mannix said Work has been charged with abandoning a child and endangering a child, but more charges are expected.
Police received a call around 6:20 p.m. Wednesday regarding a welfare concern of a child. Cedar Park police officers found the child’s mother, but not the child.
Detectives said the person who called police saw pictures the boy’s father posted of him on Facebook, showing him with cuts and bruises. KVUE spoke with Turner’s father on Facebook Thursday night. He said the last time he had seen his son was May 30. When Turner’s mother disappeared, he tried to find them and contacted police then. He said a family member recently shared the photos of Turner’s cuts and bruises, and he immediately shared them with police.
A search of Williamson County Jail records showed that Work has a criminal history, including charges of animal cruelty and assault.
Austin and Cedar Park police departments are investigating alongside the Texas Rangers and the FBI. The Williamson County and Travis County district attorneys are also working together on the case.
