Kingman parents arrested after son's body found; roommate arrested in daughter's abuse
The parents of a 16-year-old boy who was found dead in Kingman have been arrested on suspicion of concealing a dead body and lying to the police about the boy's whereabouts.
Amber-Leah Valentine, 41, and Jon Imes, 41, called Mohave County Sheriff's Department on Feb. 25 to report that their 16-year-old son had run away from home. Valentine and Imes told deputies after they responded to the family's home in Kingman that they had last seen their son around 10 a.m. the day prior, according to a news release.
Three days later, on Feb. 28, Mohave County deputies were sent to the area of Anson Smith Road and Indian Canyon Road in Kingman, where the body of a dead white male had been found behind a stone wall wrapped in a blanket. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of death.
The body remained unidentified until March 2 when Valentine called Mohave County sheriff's deputies to tell them she had just freed her 14-year-old daughter who had been held captive by Valentine's roommates. The mother asked for medical attention for her and her 14-year-old daughter and the pair were taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center for treatment, police said.
During that time, Valentine told deputies she and Imes had disposed of their 16-year-old son's body, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"She admitted that she lied to deputies when they reported him as a runaway and acknowledged that he was already deceased at the time of the report," Mohave County Sheriff Doug Shuster said.
During questioning, Imes admitted to disposing of his son’s body and lying to deputies about him running away, Shuster said.
Valentine's 14-year-old daughter — who had been held captive reportedly by her mother's roommates, Richard Pounds, 34, and Shioban Gujda, 39 — told detectives during questioning at the hospital that she was abused at the home, according to the news release.
The girl recounted being shot in the eye with a BB gun by Pounds among other incidents of abuse, detectives said.
The Arizona Department of Child Safety was contacted in response to the abuse allegations, and the 14-year-old was moved to an undisclosed location to continue medical treatment, police said. Both Valentine and Imes were booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility on March 2 following their arrests.
A search warrant was issued for the family's Kingman home, at which time both Pounds and Gujda were taken into custody with help from the Bullhead City SWAT team. Pounds was arrested on charges of felony child abuse and aggravated assault and booked into Mohave County Adult Detention Center, according to a Sheriff's Office news release. Gujda was released pending further investigation.
The Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on the 16-year-old male on March 4 to determine his cause of death, Shuster said. The autopsy results were pending as of March 6.
The parents were charged on suspicion of felony abandonment and concealment of a dead body.
Shuster said the case remained under active investigation and additional charges were pending.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kingman parents arrested after son's body found
