5 missing S.C. kids turn up dead in Ala.; dad arrested

CAMDEN, Ala. - A district attorney says the bodies of five children missing from South Carolina have been found in rural Alabama. The children's father is in custody.

Wilcox County, Alabama, District Attorney Michael Jackson told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the father is suspected of killing the five children in South Carolina and dumping the bodies in Alabama.

Mississippi authorities said in a news release Tuesday night that 32-year-old Timothy Ray Jones Jr. was already in custody in Raleigh, Mississippi, after being detained Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence. The children were not with the father when he was taken into custody.

They said Jones' SUV was towed and upon inspection of the vehicle, evidence of a crime was found. They said further investigation led them to the children's bodies.

Jackson said the father is suspected of killing the five children in South Carolina and dumping the bodies in Alabama.

CBS affiliate WLTX in Columbia, S.C., reports the children were between the ages of one and eight.

He said all charges will be filed in South Carolina and the children's bodies will be taken back to that state.

Deputies say the man's ex-wife reported her children missing on Sept. 3 when she could not contact her ex-husband. She told investigators there were other times she hadn't been able to contact him and the children turned up safe.

The husband is the children's primary legal guardian, WLTX reports. Neighbors told deputies that the children's father said he was moving with his children from his home near Lexington, S.C., to another state.