BARLING, Ark. (KFSM) — The woman and her four children who were found dead Monday (Sept. 16) in Georgia have ties to Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley.
Family members of Casei Jones remember her as a beautiful, vibrant young woman, dedicated to her kids. Now the family is looking for answers and justice.
Casei and her four children had been missing for more than a month before their bodies were discovered 150 miles north of their Florida home.
Casei’s aunt Judy Garland, who lives in Barling, says the hardest part was hearing about the children.
“I actually asked the detective, 'do you literally have the baby’s bodies' and the detective told me, 'yes ma’am we do'," Garland said.
No details have been given about the deaths by the Marion County Sheriff.
“As a father, as a parent, it breaks my heart. As a sheriff, it angers me to no end. Something to this degree, how could a human being even do this," said Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods.
A warrant for second-degree murder was issued for Casei’s husband Michael Wayne Jones Jr.
“As far as I'm concerned, as the sheriff of this county, underneath the jail isn’t good enough," Woods said.
Garland says she met Casei’s husband a number of times and he never showed any signs that he was capable of murder.
Jones was found after he was involved in a car crash in Georgia.
Deputies believe Jones murdered his family in Florida and stored their bodies at his home for several weeks before taking them to Georgia.
“She loved those babies with her whole heart. She loved him with her whole heart and would have done anything for him," Garland said.
Garland is now calling Jones a coward.
“I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison and has to every day see the faces of the babies that he killed," Garland said.
The family has not set up a Go Fund Me account but when they do, a formal announcement will be made.