Charlene and Charles Barnes plant a cross and flowers with the names of Jane and William McQuain at the side of the road in Clarksburg, Md., on Tuesday Oct. 18, 2011, where Maryland police found remains that they believe are those of a missing boy whose mother was discovered slain. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)Human remains discovered in a wooded area near Little Bennett Regional Park in Clarksburg are likely those of missing 11-year-old William McQuain, Montgomery County police said Tuesday.
Around 9 a.m., a canine team discovered the remains of a young black male close by locations where teams have been searching since Sunday. The body was found about a quarter-mile west of Route 355, near the intersection with Route 121, Officer Rebecca Innocenti, a police spokeswoman, said.
“We believe the remains are William McQuain. We believe William has been here, at this location, since Oct. 1,” Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said Tuesday.
The boy has been missing since Sept. 30. His mother, Jane McQuain, 51, was found dead in her Germantown apartment Wednesday. Her estranged husband, the boy’s stepfather, was arrested in connection with her slaying the next day in North Carolina.
Police still will have to positively identify the remains as that of the missing boy, but officers said the body was found with clothing that appears to match what William McQuain was seen wearing in a surveillance video from Oct. 1. In the video, the boy is seen at a storage unit with his stepfather, Curtis M. Lopez.
“He was in a playful mood with no signs of stress,” Officer Innocenti said, describing William’s demeanor in the video, taken from a storage unit in the 13000 block of Wisteria Drive in Germantown, less than a mile from Jane McQuain’s home.
William and Mr. Lopez are seen coming in and out of the unit twice the morning of Oct. 1.
“Obviously, this body was just discovered, so it is very early in the investigation,” Officer Innocenti said. “The team is just beginning to collect evidence.”
On Monday in a Charlotte, N.C., courtroom, Mr. Lopez, 45, waived his rights to an extradition hearing, according to Montgomery County police. Officials will bring him to Maryland, where he will face first-degree-murder charges in Ms. McQuain’s death. Charges for William McQuain’s death also will be filed if the body is determined to be his, Officer Innocenti said.
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Andrea Noble is a crime and public safety reporter for The Washington Times. She can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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