The parents of a missing 5-year-old boy have been charged with murder after their son was found buried in a shallow grave in a rural area of Illinois, police say. The body of Andrew "AJ" Freund, who was reported missing April 18, was found covered in plastic and buried in Woodstock, Illinois, on Wednesday, Crystal Lake police Chief James Black said. Police interviewed the boy's parents the night before after authorities had gathered evidence from cellphone data, they said. The couple then gave authorities information that led them to the boy's grave a few miles from their home in Crystal Lake, police said. Parents Andrew "Drew" Freund Sr. and Joann Cunningham were charged with murder and a variety of other counts related to the boy's death and disappearance. The couple forced their son to stand in a cold shower for an extended period of time and then beat him, according to court documents. An autopsy conducted Thursday determined the boy's cause of death was "craniocerebral trauma as a consequence of multiple blunt force injuries," according to the McHenry County Coroner's Office. "To AJ, we know you are at peace playing in heaven’s playground and are happy you no longer have to suffer," the Crystal Lake Police Department said in a statement. Police began looking for the child after the couple reported him missing April 18, saying they hadn't seen the boy since bedtime the night before. But authorities quickly ruled out kidnapping. “This is not the outcome that we want to talk about … but it is the unfortunate result,” Jeffrey Sallet, who heads the FBI in northern Illinois, told reporters Wednesday. The boy and his family were previously known to police, who had visited their house multiple times over the years, records released by the department show. In one instance, police described the house covered in dog feces and urine, and in a child's room the "smell of feces was overwhelming." Another said the house was "cluttered, dirty and in disrepair." AJ had also been born with opiates in his system in 2013, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had been in contact with his family ever since. AJ's brother was removed from the home and placed in DCFS care last week. DCFS acting director Marc Smith called AJ’s death "heartbreaking." "The department is committed to conducting a comprehensive review of the entirety of our work with Andrew’s family to understand our shortcomings and to be fully transparent with the public on any steps we are taking to address the issues," Smith said in a statement. Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller.<doc-sep>Police say his parents, JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr., buried his body in a shallow grave and claimed he had disappeared. Crystal Lake Police New details have emerged in the death of Andrew "AJ" Freund, the 5-year-old allegedly murdered by his parents and buried in a shallow grave last week in a Chicago suburb. According to a Thursday criminal complaint obtained by BuzzFeed News, AJ's parents, JoAnn Cunningham, 35, and Andrew Freund Sr., 60, killed the boy by making him stay "in a cold shower for an extended period of time" and "struck" him. They did this on or about April 15 "knowing said acts would cause the death" of their young son, the complaint states. Cunningham, who is currently 7 months pregnant, faces charges of murder, aggravated battery, aggravated domestic battery, and failure to report a missing child or child death. Freund faces the same charges, as well as additional ones for concealing a homicide. Crystal Lake Police Department JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr. Police arrested Cunningham and Freund after they said they had found incriminating information through a forensic analysis of cellphone data. Once shown this evidence, the parents "provided information that ultimately led to the recovery of the deceased subject," according to police. Following a weeklong search, AJ's body was found wrapped in plastic Wednesday in a remote area of Woodstock, Illinois, about seven miles from his home in Crystal Lake. His parents had previously told police that they last saw AJ on the night of April 17. Freund called 911 the following morning, saying he'd just returned from a doctor's appointment and discovered the child was gone. "We canvased the park, the local gas station down here where we sometimes take him to buy treats," the father said, according to a recording of the 911 call. "I have no idea where he would be... We've checked closets, the basement, the garage, everywhere." Scott Olson / Getty Images A memorial for AJ outside his home<doc-sep>The body of a 5-year-old boy who was reported missing last week from his home in suburban Chicago was found Wednesday buried in a shallow grave, and his parents were charged with murder, police said. "We know you are at peace playing in heaven’s playground and are happy you no longer have to suffer," Crystal Lake Police Chief James Black said about Andrew "AJ" Freund. Black said Andrew's parents, JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr., were interviewed by detectives and gave them information that led them to the shallow grave in Woodstock, about 20 minutes from the family's home in Crystal Lake. The body was found wrapped in plastic; a cause of death is not yet known, Black said. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics Andrew's parents had told police they last saw him at roughly 9 p.m. on April 17. In a 911 call released by authorities Tuesday, the boy's father told a dispatcher that he had gone to a doctor's appointment on the morning of April 18 and when he returned to his Crystal Lake home, his son was gone. "We've canvassed the neighborhood. I went to the local park, the local gas station down here where we sometimes take him to buy treats ... I have no idea where he would be," Freund said. Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham were arrested on April 24, 2019. Crystal Lake Police Police searched a park near the couple's house Tuesday and asked neighbors to turn over home surveillance videos. A canine team was also brought in and it picked up Andrew's scent at the family's house, indicating that he did not leave on foot, detectives said earlier in the week. Freund and Cunningham are currently in custody and both face five counts of first-degree murder. Cunningham was also charged with four counts of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated domestic battery, and one count of failure to report a missing child death. Freund was also charged with two counts of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated domestic battery, two counts of concealment of homicidal death, and one count of failure to report a missing child death. The day Andrew was reported missing, his mother was arrested on an outstanding traffic warrant stemming from a December 2018 incident for driving with a suspended license. According to the incident report, Cunningham drove to a nearby fast-food restaurant to have someone call the police to report an alleged burglary at her home. In the report, Crystal Lake police officers expressed concern over the squalid living conditions at the home. One officer wrote that the house did not have an "acceptable standard of living" and said there was dog feces and urine inside. Several windows were broken and the fireplace did not appear to work, the officer wrote. Another officer wrote that the house was "cluttered, dirty and in disrepair" and the smell of feces was "overwhelming." One of Cunningham's two kids also had a large bruise on his right hip, the officer wrote. The children were removed from the home and taken to the police station after Cunningham was arrested for driving with the suspended license. A child welfare worker interviewed the children at the police station, and released them back to Cunningham after she posted bond because they could not determine how the child got the bruise, the report states. Police were called several more times to the family's home. In September 2018, an officer responded to the home after someone reported that the family had been living there without power. Cunningham refused to let police into the house but the officer noted in the report that both children appeared to be "happy and healthy." Following Andrew's disappearance, his younger brother, Parker, was removed from the home. Parker, 4, is currently in the custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.<doc-sep>
The body of Andrew "AJ" Freund was found in a shallow grave on Wednesday. Andrew "AJ" Freund, the 5-year-old Illinois boy allegedly killed by his parents, died from head trauma due to multiple blunt force injuries, according to the McHenry County coroner's office. AJ's parents, Andrew "Drew" Freund Sr. and Joann Cunningham, allegedly forced the boy to stay in a cold shower "for an extended period of time" and may have "struck" him, according to court documents. Both parents have been charged with his murder, police said. AJ, of Crystal Lake, was reported missing on April 18, prompting a massive, week-long search. The deadly assault occurred on or about April 15, according to court documents. AJ's parents ultimately provided information that led investigators to his body, Crystal Lake Police Chief Jim Black said at a news conference on Wednesday. AJ's body was found on Wednesday in a shallow grave, wrapped in plastic, in a rural area near Woodstock, Illinois, Black said. Cunningham, 35, was charged with five counts of first-degree murder; four counts of aggravated battery; two counts of aggravated domestic battery; and one count of failure to report a missing or child death. Freund, 60, was charged with five counts of first-degree murder; two counts of aggravated battery; one count of aggravated domestic battery; two counts of concealment of homicidal death; and one count of failure to report a missing or child death. Both are due to be arraigned on Monday. During the search for AJ, his younger brother was placed in a different home under a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) safety plan, a DCFS spokesman told ABC News earlier this week. DCFS has been in contact with AJ's family since AJ was born with opiates in his system in October 2013, DCFS officials said. In November 2013, AJ was taken into protective custody and placed in foster care, DCFS officials said. AJ was returned to his home in June 2015, according to the agency. In March 2018, DCFS officials investigated allegations of neglect by AJ's parents; the allegations were unfounded, according to DCFS. The last contact between DCFS and the family was in December 2018, after Cunningham called the cops to report that AJ's father stole her cellphone and medication. Responding officers found a bruise on one of the children, but were "unable to make a determination of abuse," and released the kids back to the parents, according to police reports. Child protection staffers investigated the allegations of abuse and neglect, but the allegations were unfounded, a DCFS spokesman said. The news of AJ's death is "heartbreaking," Marc Smith, acting director of Illinois DCFS, said in a statement Wednesday. "Our priority is the care and safety of Andrew's younger sibling," Smith said. "The Department is committed to conducting a comprehensive review of the entirety of our work with Andrew's family to understand our shortcomings and to be fully transparent with the public on any steps we are taking to address the issues." ABC News' Whitney Lloyd and Alex Perez contributed to this report.