MISSING 5-YR-OLD, AJ FREUND, ILL.

[HairOfTheDog]

As the investigation progresses, it sounds to me like LE believes AJ was harmed by his parents (at least his mother) in the family's Crystal Lake home.  :(

— According to police, the boy’s parents, Andrew Freund and JoAnn Cunningham, said AJ was last seen at bedtime — about 9 p.m. — on Wednesday night, 4/17. When they woke up Thursday and could not find him, they reported him missing to police.

— AJ has blond hair and was wearing a Mario sweatshirt and black sweatpants when he was last seen. He is about 3 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 70 pounds.

— Crystal Lake detectives have been working with the FBI, several other police departments, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 

-- Several searches have been conducted in the 5 days since AJ's dad called 911 to report him missing.

--About 373 acres were covered during a foot search and nearly 500 acres were covered via aerial search by drones. Teams also searched in and around the waters of Crystal Lake.

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

[url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-20190422-story.html#nt=standard-embed][/url]^ Parents Joann Cunningham and Andrew Freund

— Police on Friday said there is no indication that an abduction had taken place. They also said: “Information obtained currently has police focusing on his residence” on Dole Avenue. 

--Canine teams that “only picked up Andrew’s scent within the residence indicated that Andrew had not walked away on foot,’’ police said. Police investigated at the home Thursday and Friday.

— Yesterday morning police issued a news release that included this statement: 

“This continues to be an active and ongoing investigation. In reviewing all information, there is no indication currently that would lead police to believe that an abduction had taken place at this time. Information obtained continues to have police focusing on the residence and the individuals that may have seen or had contact with “AJ” last. As of today’s date, JoAnn Cunningham, the boy’s mother, continues to be uncooperative with police. On Saturday afternoon, Andrew Freund, the boy’s father, did speak with police detectives. Investigators are continuing to review evidence, leads, and tips as they become available.”

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

— Attorney Elizabeth Vonau, an attorney representing Cunningham, said during the weekend that Cunningham has cooperated with police. Cunningham was interviewed by police Thursday and “willingly submitted” to a complete body search Saturday, she said. 

--In a news release Monday afternoon, Cunningham’s lawyers acknowledged they urged her to stop communication with police when it appeared to them she had become a suspect.

— The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has had involvement with AJ and his family since AJ was born with opiates in his system in 2013, and the contact has continued on and off through the end of 2018. 

--AJ’s younger brother was placed in the care of DCFS last week after AJ was reported missing. A court hearing will be held today about the younger brother’s status, according to the mother’s attorneys.

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

— Today, Police released the 911 recording of AJ's father calling to report his disappearance. In the call, the father, speaking very calmly (too calmly, in my opinion), is heard saying he returned home from a doctor’s appointment early Thursday morning and found his son missing after he went to check on him. 911 recording:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDhEbhn-j6Y

--Before calling the police, Freund says he searched the neighborhood, a local gas station “where they got treats" and a nearby school and talked to the principal. He also said he searched “everywhere” inside the family home.  

— Searchers are at the lake at Veterans Acres Park in Crystal Lake today with sonar equipment. The park is about a mile northeast from the missing boy’s home. At about 11:30 a.m., a helicopter hovered as two divers, and boats were launched. Dive squad members placed buoys in the water, and divers suited up. Sonar teams will be scanning “several ponds and smaller bodies of water,” police said in a news release.

— Authorities ask anyone with information to call the Crystal Lake Police Department at 815-356-3620. Anyone with a cellphone who has information regarding the child can send an anonymous tip to the department by texting the word CLPDTIP along with the tip to 847411.

Ref:  
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca...story.html
https://www.nwherald.com/2019/04/21/pare...s/a739rg6/

[Duchess]

These stories always make me want to howl. I get this horrible feeling that those who are supposed to protect them and love them the most are the same people who made them disappear.

[sally]

It sounds fishy. And at the very least neglect if the kid did wander away. Who got up to check on him and make sure someone was watching him before the father went to the doctors appointment? Apparently no one. If the mother was there why didn't she take him to school, obviously he goes to school because they went there to look for him.

[Maggot]

The kid is 5 yrs old, these parents because they just let the kid wander around and even if the child was abducted is responsible because they did not pay attention to where he was. It's not like he was 13 yrs old for Gods sake.

[sally]

The parents are apparently crackheads, the kid was born with opiates in his system according to the report. If he wandered off while they were all fucked up, it seems like someone would have found him. Hopefully not an abductor which is possible, but slim. I think they did something to him.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, I also suspect AJ is dead at the hands of his parents, either through abuse or neglect.

Hopefully that's not the case, but police don't usually make public announcements indicating that they don't believe there was an abduction until they have solid reasons to suspect people in the child's home.  

Then there's the 17 police visits to the home over the last five years.  The visit reports were released to the press today after some news outlets petitioned the court under the Freedom of Information Act.

The reports documented unacceptable living conditions (filth, feces, etc), concerns for the welfare of the children, and alleged drug use in the home.

AJ's parents appeared in court in McHenry County this afternoon for a shelter care hearing that would determine if they can regain custody of the 3-year-old son who was removed from the home after AJ was reported missing. However, the hearing was delayed until Monday.  So, AJ's little brother remains in custody of DCFS, for now.

Ref:  https://abc7chicago.com/crystal-lake-mis...d/5265816/

[HairOfTheDog]

It sounds fishy. And at the very least neglect if the kid did wander away. Who got up to check on him and make sure someone was watching him before the father went to the doctors appointment? Apparently no one. If the mother was there why didn't she take him to school, obviously he goes to school because they went there to look for him.

Although AJ's dad said he went to speak to the principal of the nearby school before calling 911 to report AJ missing, AJ wasn't enrolled in school yet.

[HairOfTheDog]

These stories always make me want to howl. I get this horrible feeling that those who are supposed to protect them and love them the most are the same people who made them disappear.

You have a great heart Duchess, and your instincts were right on the money.  As you've said many times in these types of cases, AJ deserved so much better.

Anyway, I don't think anyone here will be surprised to hear today's news on the case.  It's fucking saddening and maddening nonetheless.

AJ's body was found today.  He was wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave.  :(


His parents, ^ 36-year-old JoAnn Cunnigham and 60-year-old Andrew Freund, have both been charged with his murder.

They've been hit with multiple counts including first-degree murder and battery after they helped lead police to the boy's remains in a field at the rural Hennen Conservation Area in Woodstock, Crystal Lake Police Chief James Black announced at a press conference this afternoon.  

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

JoAnn Cunningham is facing five counts of first-degree murder, four counts of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated domestic battery and one count of failure to report a missing or child death.  She is reportedly several months pregnant.

Andrew Freund Sr is facing five counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated domestic battery, two counts of concealment of a homicidal death and one count of failure to report a missing child or child death. 

AJ's official cause of death will be determined pending an autopsy by the McHenry County coroner. 

Chief Black said information provided by both parents overnight as well as forensic cellphone data were used to locate AJ's body. 

Ref:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...tion-small

[HairOfTheDog]

^ The grave site.

LE did a very good job quickly locating AJ's body, in my opinion.

They did not allow Cunningham and Freund to push false stories, claim victimhood, and elicit public sympathy.  It appears they really sweated the parents.

We'll follow their court cases here as they develop.

[HairOfTheDog]

Little AJ doesn't look well cared-for to me, even in the smiling photo above.  Rest in Peace.

Police noted their concern during their calls to the house over the years.

DCSF followed-up and noted that concerns of abuse and neglect were unfounded.  Those DCSF officials will likely have some explaining to do when the cases against AJ's parents are litigated.

[HairOfTheDog]

Supplemental Family Background / History:
AJ had been in foster care for nearly two years after his birth because his parents were not deemed fit to care for him.  

AJ's older brother was fathered by Cunningham's former husband.  Andrew Freund met Cunningham when he (a former attorney) represented her in divorce court.

AJ's older brother was removed from Cunningham's care when her mother petitioned the court to give her custody of the boy and presented a case of extreme neglect.  

AJ's little brother is now reportedly in the care of a family member.  I hope it's a good home and he can stay out of the foster system.

[Duchess]

That poor little boy. It sounds like his whole life was shit! His parents are monsters  :(

[sally]

And she's pregnant with another one. I guess the sadistic cunt just enjoys having babies to torture them.

[HairOfTheDog]

And she's pregnant with another one. I guess the sadistic cunt just enjoys having babies to torture them.

She seems like a real piece of shit alright, as does AJ's father.

Given that they were charged with murder and aggravated domestic battery, rather than neglect or manslaughter only, I think it's safe to assume that  LE has cause to believe AJ died in a violent manner at the hands of one or both of his parents.

And, since Cunningham and Freund are also charged with failure to report a missing or dead child............we don't know how long AJ was really dead before Andrew Freund made that bizarre 911 call.  Hopefully, the Medical Examiner will be able to pin point a time and cause of death.

Since AJ wasn't yet enrolled in kindergarten (according to the interview with his mother), he might have been lying in the shallow grave for longer than the six days since he was reported missing.

[sally]

I read that a neighbor who was interviewed said that he showed up to her door with bandages on his face and arm on halloween. At first she thought he was a mummy, but his mother explained that he picked up a pot of boing water and burnt himself. Who knows how long the bastards had been abusing him. And it's nice how it always seems to slip between the cracks with DCF.

[Duchess]

At first she thought he was a mummy

He must have been covered in bandages for her to think that! My God.  

...and she's been blessed with another child on the way. Man. Just...fuck.