Missouri boy, 3, found dead in van hours after going missing

IRONTON, Mo. -- A 3-year-old Missouri boy who reportedly went missing early Wednesday from his grandfather's home was found dead hours later, draped in a blanket in a neighbor's van about a mile away, authorities said.

Investigators declined to say how Titus Greyson Tackett may have died or whether they suspect wrongdoing, citing a planned autopsy.

Titus went missing from his grandfather's house in Ironton, a rural community about 75 miles south of St. Louis. The boy's mother and father said they saw him around midnight Tuesday before they went on an errand. When they returned around 1:30 a.m., the door was open and Titus was missing, Iron County Sheriff Roger Medley told the (Park Hills) Daily Journal.

The family reported Titus missing and a search was launched that included volunteers, dogs and a helicopter equipped with infrared radar.

About 11 a.m., someone spotted Titus inside the van of a neighbor who lives about a mile from his grandfather's home and flagged down a searcher, who summoned the authorities, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott said.

Titus' parents said he was wearing only a diaper when they last saw him, and overnight temperatures were in the teens.

Pertinent address:

Ironton, Mo.