DICKSON, Tenn. — As authorities continue the search for the body of the 5-year-old reportedly beaten to death and then dumped in a rural area by his father, new information has been released that some say helps shed light on what life was like inside the Middle Tennessee home.
According to CBS affiliate WTVF, just days before Joe Clyde Daniels was reported missing by his parents, a Dickson County resident reportedly found two dogs on their property. The animals were very skinny, covered in fleas and ticks, and appeared to be very scared, a spokesperson fro the Humane Society of Dickson County told the news outlet.
They showed all the classic signs of having been abused, they said.
Eventually the agency received confirmation from neighbors and relatives that the dogs actually belonged to Joseph and Krystal Daniels – the couple now sitting behind bars in the 5-year-old’s death.
The couple’s home is at least nine miles from the location where the dogs were found. The Humane Society believes the couple drove to the location and simply abandoned the dogs on a stranger’s property.
Three days later, police were told that Joe Clyde had disappeared in the middle of the night, leading to a massive search of the surrounding area.
The father eventually confessed to beating Joe Clyde to death, putting him in the trunk of his car and then dumping his body in a remote location, police said. His mother was reportedly present at the time of her son’s death and failed to report the homicide despite multiple opportunities to do so.
Both were arrested and charged.
The search is still ongoing as authorities have yet to find the little boy’s body.