GREENE COUNTY, Mo. — Officials have confirmed Monday that three bodies found in rural Benton County, Missouri, are those of a missing Greene County father and his two sons.
The Greene County Sheriff’s Office said three bodies — one adult and two juveniles — were discovered in a rural area near U.S. Highway 65 and T Highway north of Warsaw on March 1.
The sheriff’s office said they’ve identified the bodies as Darrell Peak and his two sons, 3-year-old Mayson Peak and 4-year-old Kaiden Peak.
Linemen working on nearby power lines found the bodies around 4:20 p.m. in a abandoned shack not far from where the three were last seen in Benton County, officials say. The workers were in that same area Saturday, so it’s unclear how long the bodies had been there, the Benton County sheriff said Monday night.
Officials have not released any details on a cause of death. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are now conducting a death investigation.
“All I can say is it’s just devastating,” Benton County Sheriff Eric Knox said. “This isn’t something that you normally find. It’s not something that happens in Benton County.”
Family members last saw Darrell, Mayson and Kaiden at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. He was armed with a pistol, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said around 5 p.m. that night, before the three were reported missing, a Missouri state trooper stopped to check on their disabled vehicle. Darrell Peak refused help.
Just before 6 p.m., a sheriff’s deputy saw a man and two children walking on Highway 65. When she turned around to make contact, she couldn’t find them. At about 7 p.m. Thursday, someone called the Missouri State Highway Patrol about a man and two small children walking along Highway 65, but the three could not be located.
At about 10:30 a.m. Friday, the family called the sheriff’s office to file a missing persons report. By 2:35 p.m. Friday, Darrell Peak’s car was found abandoned on Highway 65, north of Warsaw. The highway patrol issued statewide alerts for the father and boys.
Their bodies were found two days later.