Days after his 5-year-old Oregon son vanished and was later found dead in the Coos County coastal forest, a father is desperate for answers.
According to Oregon Live, details about the circumstances surrounding the death of Joshua James McCoy remain uncertain. He disappeared from his mother’s home on Stage Roadon November 9 while his mother was napping. Police located him three days later, about 2 miles from where he was last seen.
“It is with immense sadness that we have to report that missing Joshua McCoy has been found deceased,” the Coos County Sheriff’s Office posted in a news releaseTuesday.
Joshua’s father, Lance McCoy, said he last saw his son around a year ago, before he moved to Ohio to be with his girlfriend. He described his family life as idyllic before the move.
“I want the truth, plain and simple,” Lawson McCoy, said. “I don’t care about anything else. My baby’s gone.”
As of Thursday, no arrests had been made in connection with the boy’s death, according to what sheriff’s office Sgt. Christopher W. Gill told USA TODAY.
Gill reported that the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on the boy. The official cause and manner of death were still pending as of Thursday.
McCoy subsequently set up a GoFundMe campaign to cover expenses for transportation, funeral costs, therapy, a private investigator, daily living needs, and memorial tributes.
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support during this unimaginably painful time,” McCoy wrote. “#JusticeForJoshua.”
Meanwhile, over 200 people attended a vigil SaturdY in Coos County to honor Joshua’s memory.
“We have done this for the community so they can come and pay their respects. We live in a very small, tight-knit community, and when things like this happen, it’s very tragic, and we thought that everybody deserved to pay their respects in their own way,” said Coos County resident Ashley Johnson, according to KPIC.
The story is developing. Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Joshua McCoy/Handout]
