Las Vegas police cancel search for man following boy’s death; case of mistaken identity

Las Vegas police have backtracked on a Saturday morning alert for a man believed to be connected with a boy’s death after authorities located the man and the boy they believed was dead.

Police in the Nevada city briefly sought the man they believed could have been headed to Sacramento or Fresno but later said it was a case of mistaken identity — and that the man and two boys he was with were located in Utah.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Saturday morning that they were searching for a 37-year-old Las Vegas man suspected of involvement in the death of a child.

The boy was found dead on Friday morning by a group of hikers on the Mountain Springs Trailhead near Nevada State Route 160. The boy was described by investigators as “the victim of an obvious homicide.” That boy has yet to be definitively identified.

A police sketch circulated by police led to a call from “a panicked mother” overnight who claimed it depicted her 8-year-old son. She signed an affidavit after viewing autopsy photos with police and the Clark County Coroner’s Office, according to authorities. Another family member also told police his 11-year-old half-brother was missing as well.

The mother of the 11-year-old was also convinced that the police sketch depicted the 8-year-old boy.

The father of the two boys was located in Utah, and both boys are confirmed safe.

Las Vegas homicide detective Lt. Ray Spencer said the man and boys were out of cellphone reach in Utah during the morning. Spencer said the case of mistake identity came as a relief to the mothers, but that the women and police saw a “very, very close resemblance” in the photographs between the victim and located child.

The investigation into the boy who was found dead remains active.

This story was originally published May 29, 2021 at 2:17 PM.