gates has reached out to the St. Francois County Circuit Court for documents related to her charges and is awaiting a response.

Timeline of events

SLMPD says it began its investigation into Jones in July 2024, after the missing child's mother reported to them she had not seen her child since May of that year. According to court records, the mother told investigators she had last seen her child in Jones' car. She told police she had noticed the child was missing teeth, and when she confronted Jones about it, he drove away.

SLMPD says they interviewed multiple people to try to find the missing child after the July 2024 report, including Jones, who had told investigators he had given the child to an Amish community in Mississippi, and he had recently seen the child.

At an unspecified time before Jones' detainment on March 26, 2025, SLMPD put him out as  wanted  for parental kidnapping, according to a Richmond Heights Police Department incident report.

SLMPD said in 2025, they applied for parental kidnapping charges against a  person of interest.  Police did not name who this person of interest was or specify when in 2025 they applied for charges.

SLMPD says the circuit attorney's office requested more information from investigators before charging decisions were made. Jones was never charged in the St. Louis City Circuit Court from an SLMPD investigation.

In June 2026, the child's mother made a report to the Desloge Police Department in St. Francois County. Jones was charged in St. Francois County with parental kidnapping and first-degree harassment on June 29.

On July 8, Desloge Police, SLMPD, the FBI and other area agencies uncovered the remains of a small child in a wooded area in Stookey Township following a tip received during the investigation into Jones. As of publication time, the remains have not been positively identified.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 2-year-old named Ronnell Jones from Desloge was reported missing in 2024. A GoFundMe has been set up on behalf of Ronnell  Prince' Jones' mother for funeral expenses.

 Prince was a bright, joyful little boy who loved crab rangoon, making people laugh, and filling every room with his smile,  the GoFundMe organizer wrote.  Today, he should be four years old-playing at the park, blowing bubbles, and growing up alongside his baby sister, who adored him just as much as he adored her. 

Following the recovery of the remains, SLMPD announced they would be conducting an internal affairs investigation to review the Juvenile Division's investigation into the mother's 2024 report.