Mother charged with murder after 11-year-old son found in Horsham Township home
HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- The mother of an 11-year-old boy who was found dead inside a master bedroom in Horsham Township on Tuesday morning has been charged with murder.
Court documents show that Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead has been charged with first-degree and third-degree murder.
Police said Tuesday the child was found dead inside a bedroom, where he allegedly spent the night with his mother.
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday that investigators observed the boy had signs of strangulation.
The child's father told investigators that when he woke up at 7 a.m. Tuesday, he noticed the bedroom door was locked and DiRienzo-Whitehead's black Toyota Highlander was missing from the garage.
Police found the SUV partially submerged in the ocean off Beach Avenue in Cape May, which is more than 120 miles away from their Horsham home.
The SUV was spotted there around 3:30 a.m.
Authorities said a men's black dress belt was found on the floor of the SUV.
An autopsy ruled the cause of the death as "ligature strangulation."
DiRienzo-Whitehead was taken into custody by Wildwood Crest police. She's being held in Cape May County and will be extradited back to Montgomery County.