Prayer Request Needed

By RUSS BYNUM - Associated Press Writer

BRUNSWICK, Ga.(AP) A week of searching for a missing 6-year-old in coastal Georgia ended with heartbreak for the boy's father and dozens of police and volunteers who looked for the youngster.

The body of Christopher Barrios was found Thursday afternoon, stuffed in a black plastic trash bag by the side of a road three miles from his Glynn County trailer park.

"You suspected all along in your heart, it's just not the outcome you want," said volunteer searcher Mari Charnock, who dabbed at tears after the boy was found dead. "At least we know, though. At least it's over."

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said he escorted the boy's father, Mike Barrios, to the scene to see the body at the father's request.

"That was the hardest part," Doering said. "When it's your only son that has been killed and you want to go look for the last time, that's tough."

Many of the volunteers, several wearing T-shirts printed with the boy's photo, hugged and sobbed as Doering broke the news.

Cpl. Jesse Cook of the Department of Natural Resources and his colleague, Sgt. John Harwell, were aiding in the search and spotted tire tracks on the road curving off toward the tree line. They pulled over and saw the trash bag among the trees and brush about 15 feet from the road. They alerted detectives when they got close enough to notice flies and a strong odor coming from the bag.

"It was obvious," Cook said. "But if you weren't looking for it, you probably would've thought it was just a trash bag."

Police had spent days chasing false tips from four suspects they arrested earlier in the week, including a convicted child molester who lived in the same mobile home park where Christopher was last seen playing alone on a swing set the evening of March 8.

If anyone who reads this article could please say a prayer for this young boy's family, it would be greatly appreciated. It is so hard to lose a child especially at such a young age. My prayers and condolences are with this family in their time of grief. May the Lord love, bless and keep them safe.