When officers responded to the home on April 3 no one was home, according to Dayton police. Children Services was contacted and police learned a case was already open.
A second call came in about 24 hours later. Police made contact with the family and the kids were OK, police said.
Food, water and power were available at the home.
After 8:30 p.m. on June 10, officers were dispatched to the home for a third welfare check. The caller canceled the call, declining police or medics before the officers arrived.
The boy was reported kidnapped just over a month later on July 12. Michael Kendrick, Creachbaum’s mother’s boyfriend, claimed someone punched him and took the boy, according to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch records.
Creachbaum’s presumed remains were found that day.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
While his mother and Kendrick have been indicted in connection to the case, investigators are working to determine what happened to the 7-year-old boy.
Though his mother, Ashley Johnson, initially told detectives she last saw her son playing with his sister on July 11, she later admitted Creachbaum died in late May while she was in the hospital, according to Dayton Municipal Court records.
Kendrick said he was drinking while he was in an argument on the phone and punched Creachbaum in the head twice, an affidavit read.
He reportedly shoved the boy to the ground and struck him.
Kedrick claimed Creachbaum died the next day, according to court documents.
He kept the boy’s body in the house until it began to smell and then moved it to a deep freezer.
He reportedly used a suitcase to leave Creachbaum in a grassy field. A few weeks later Kendrick returned to collect the bones.
He guided investigators to where he left the boy’s remains on McClure Street, according to court records.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office is working to confirm the identity.
Johnson and Kendrick are scheduled to be arraigned in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on Thursday.
She is facing one count of obstructing justice and Kendrick was indicted on three counts of gross abuse of a corpse and two counts of tampering with evidence.
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