JACKSON FARREY (deceased) - 5 months - El Paso TX

El Paso police search Farrey family home, baby still missing
Both parents are being held in a Michigan jail

By Aaron Bracamontes / El Paso Times
POSTED:   11/20/2013 12:01:55 AM MST

The abandoned home of the Farrey family was filled with at least a dozen police officers and detectives on Tuesday morning as they continue to search for answers to the location of a missing 5-month-old.

The neighborhood, which was described as quiet by residents, was abuzz all day as several marked and unmarked El Paso Police Department vehicles pulled up to the house on the 7300 block of Cerro Negro to execute a search warrant.

The Farrey family, who were reported missing last week and found in Michigan on Sunday, has not been in the house since late last week. Jeffrey Farrey, 22; Jenna Farrey, 20; Blake Farrey, 19 months old; and Jackson Farrey 5 months old; were reported missing on Friday.

On Monday, police said that the family was found in a motel in Escanaba, Mich., on Sunday without Jackson Farrey, who remains missing. Police would not confirm reports late Tuesday that a baby had been found. The case is being investigated by the El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons unit.

Jeffrey and Jenna Farrey are both being held in the Delta County Correctional Facility in Michigan, according to jail officials. El Paso law enforcement officials, prosecutors and military officials are working to bring Jeffrey and Jenna back to El Paso. Jeffrey Farrey is a soldier stationed at Fort Bliss.

On Tuesday, detectives with the El Paso Police Department arrived at the Farrey's house just before 11 a.m. and began to set up a perimeter with red tape. They didn't walk into the house until just before noon. At 7 p.m., they were still there. Police were also searching the desert in Northeast El Paso.

A black and white car, with a grenade painted on the driver's side, sat in the driveway as police took pictures of it and the front of the house. The car was later towed.

Eventually, a portion of the street was taped off with yellow tape and the El Paso Police Department's Mobile Command Unit was brought in as detectives continued to search the house and the backyard.

Octavio Hidalgo, who rents the house to the Farrey family, said he was told by police on Monday that they would be at the home on Cerro Negro Tuesday morning, and may be there a couple of days.

Alicia Landeros, 55, said she has never seen this much commotion on her street.

"I never realized they were on our street until my son started talking about it," Landeros said.

Meanwhile, the search warrants for the Farrey house has been sealed for 30 days by the 409th District Court.

On Monday, an arrest warrant was issued for Jenna Farrey for violating the terms of her probation from a 2012 child abandonment and endangerment case. She pleaded guilty in January and was suppose to remain in El Paso County, inform her probation officer of her residence and abide by a curfew, as part of her five-year probation, court documents said.

According to the Escanaba newspaper, the Daily Press, the Delta County Prosecutor Steve Parks said Jeffrey Farrey has an AWOL charge against him.

Jeffrey Farrey holds the rank of specialist, Army officials said. In a YouTube video made this summer, Jenna Farrey said her husband was scheduled to deploy overseas in March.

The couple will remain in jail until they are brought back to El Paso and their 19-month-old son has been placed in Child Protective Services.

The Daily Press also reported that the Farrey family was found at the Eagle's Nest Motel on Sunday morning.

An employee at the Lakeside Motor Inn, in Gladstone, Mich., said the couple stayed at the hotel on Friday night, "without incident," and then checked out on Saturday.

The two motels are about six miles away. The distance from the Farrey home in El Paso to the Lakeside Motor Inn is about 1,681 miles, which Google Maps estimates would take 27 hours to drive.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_24553631/el-paso-police-prepare-search-home-farrey-family

Sources: Body of missing 5-month-old baby found in desert (update)

Times staff report
Posted:   11/20/2013 11:53:51 AM MST

Update: By Aaron Bracamontes/El Paso Times

Jeffrey Farrey, the father of 5-month-old Jackson Farrey whose body was presumably found in the New Mexico desert, was booked into El Paso County Jail today.

View Orogrande, NM in a larger map

Farrey, 22, is being held on a charge of injury to a child by omission and his bond is set at $1.5 million.

Previous:Sources close to the investigation have confirmed to the El Paso Times that the body of the missing 5-month-old Jackson Farrey has been found somewhere in the Northeast desert.

Police would not confirm that the baby had been found.

A command center has been set up in the area.

The Farrey family were reported missing last week and found in Michigan on Sunday. Jeffrey Farrey, 22; Jenna Farrey, 20; Blake Farrey, 19 months old; and Jackson Farrey 5 months old, were reported missing on Friday.

On Monday, police said that the family was found in a motel in Escanaba, Mich., on Sunday without Jackson Farrey, who remains missing. The case is being investigated by the El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons unit.

Jeffrey and Jenna Farrey are both being held in the Delta County Correctional Facility in Michigan, according to jail officials. El Paso law enforcement officials, prosecutors and military officials are working to bring Jeffrey and Jenna back to El Paso. Jeffrey Farrey is a soldier stationed at Fort Bliss.

On Tuesday, detectives with the El Paso Police Department arrived at the Farrey's house in West El Paso just before 11 a.m. and began to set up a perimeter with red tape. They didn't walk into the house until just before noon. At 7 p.m., they were still there. Police were also searching the desert in Northeast El Paso.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_24561201/sources-body-missing-5-month-old-baby-found

BREAKING: Jeffrey Farrey in El Paso jail; bond set at $1.5m

POSTED: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - 9:42am
UPDATED: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - 5:44pm

EPPD: Body believed to be that of missing 5 mo. old found in desert near Orogrande, NM

El Paso, TX (KTSM) — NewsChannel 9 has learned that Jeffery Farrey, father of 5-month-old Jackson, was booked into the El Paso County Jail this afternoon. Farrey is charged with 'Injury to a Child by Ommission' and his bond has been set at $1.5m.

Wednesday afternoon, El Paso Police confirmed they recovered the body of an infant that they believe to be 5-month-old Jackson Farrey.

They say that officers pinpointed the location late Tuesday evening, but found the remains Wednesday morning in the desert west of US-54 near the Outpost at Orogrande, NM. EPPD say they are involved in a multi-agency investigation at including multiple law enforcement offices from Michigan, Illinois, Texas and New Mexico including FBI and U.S. Border Patrol.

The body will be transported to the University of New Mexico Medical examiners offices in Albuquerque, NM for a full autopsy.

The EPPD Mobile Command unit is set up at a gas station in the small community, halfway between El Paso and Alamogordo.

http://www.ktsm.com/news/crimebeat/body-5-month-old-jackson-farrey-found-near-orogrande-nm

Dead infant's mom, Jenna Farrey, will return to El Paso
Michigan: Jenna Farrey waives right to extradition hearing

By Aaron Bracamontes and Aaron Martinez / El Paso Times
Posted: 11/21/2013 11:19:53 PM MST

Jenna Farrey, the mother of the 5-month-old baby found in the desert on Wednesday, will be brought back to El Paso, but local officials have not said when or what for.

Farrey, 20, has been in the Delta County Jail in Michigan since Sunday morning when she was found with her husband, Jeffrey Farrey, 22, and 19-month-old son, Blake Farrey, in an Escanaba, Mich., motel.

The Farrey family was considered missing by police a week ago after Spc. Jeffrey Farrey failed to report to work at Fort Bliss.

The couple's other son, 5-month-old son, Jackson Farrey, was not found in the motel. Police believe they found his remains in the New Mexico desert Wednesday, the same day Jeffrey Farrey was brought to El Paso and charged with injury to a child by omission. His bond is $1.5 million.

Jeffrey Farrey is a specialist assigned to the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, Third Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss.

Jenna Farrey waived her right to have an extradition hearing Wednesday during a proceeding hearing in a Delta County Circuit Court. In doing so, she has made herself eligible to be extradited back to El Paso, Delta County Prosecutor Steve Parks said.

Most defendants usually waive their extradition rights, Parks said.

"The deck is stacked against them so they are almost always going to be extradited," Parks said. "It's usually just a process of determining there is a valid warrant."

El Paso Police Department spokesman Detective Mike Baranyay said the department has no current plans in motion to bring Farrey back to El Paso.

Jenna Farrey is being held in Michigan on suspicion of a probation violation from a child endangerment charge she pleaded guilty to in January.

Blake Farrey was turned over to Child Protective Services in Michigan, a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman said in a statement. They are working with law enforcement on the case.

The remains of the child were taken to the University of New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque to determine the identity and cause of death. The body has not been confirmed as the body of Jackson Farrey, a medical investigator official said.

The arrest warrant for Jenna Farrey states that she is to be brought back to El Paso and face her probation violation in the 348th District Court.

Jenna Farrey was arrested July 24, 2012, on suspicion of abandoning or endangering a child with intent to return. She pleaded guilty in January and was sentence to five years probation.

"The Farrey family does have prior CPS history in Texas," a Family and Protective Services statement said. "CPS investigated allegations of neglectful supervision (leaving a young child at home) in June 2012 and continued working with the family thru our Family Based Safety Services program until May 2013."

In a motion to revoke her probation, the El Paso County District Attorney's Office said Jenna Farrey violated the terms of her probation by leaving El Paso County, failing to notify her probation officer of her residence and violating curfew.

Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at 546-6156. Aaron Martinez may be reached at 546-6249.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_24572199/michigan-daily-press-jenna-farrey-waives-right-extradition

Prosecutors: Body of Jackson Farrey buried in desert for almost a month

By Aaron Bracamontes / El Paso Times
Posted:   12/04/2013 12:40:54 AM MST

Jeffrey Farrey stood by quietly, showing no emotion, on Tuesday as prosecutors alleged that he buried his 5-month-old son, Jackson, in a desert almost a month before being arrest in a Michigan motel.

As more details came out about the death of Jackson during a bond reduction hearing at the El Paso County Jail, his handcuffed and shackled father remained silent.

Every time the Fort Bliss soldier was asked a question by the judge, Farrey, 22, leaned over to his attorney's ear and whispered a quick response.

Farrey was arrested last month and charged with injury to a child by omission and is in jail on a $1.5 million bond. His lawyer Joe Spencer requested that the bond be lowered to $50,000.

"We believe ($1.5 million) is excessive at this point given the charges he is facing, which is injury to a child by omission," Spencer said. "We think a more reasonable bond, which is normally what we see in El Paso County for these offenses, is roughly $50,000."

His request was denied and the bond was kept at $1.5 million by Magistrate Judge James Carter, who said he will reconsider once a cause of death is revealed in the autopsy report.

Farrey was arrested on Nov. 17 in Escanaba, Mich., along with his wife, Jenna Farrey, 20. The couple's 19-month-old son, Blake, was with them, but Jackson was not.

During the bond reduction hearing, Assistant District Attorney Penny Hamilton revealed that Jackson had been buried for about a month.

Farrey had told his parents that the child died and that he "and his wife took the 5-month-old child's body and buried it in the desert in Otero County," Hamilton said.

Investigators found the body of an infant on Nov. 20 in Orogrande, N.M. El Paso Police Department officials said the body is believed to be that of Jackson.

The body is at the University of New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, where officials have not confirmed the body is that of Jackson.

Hamilton told the judge an autopsy report could take a few weeks.

Spencer said he believes the autopsy report will show that Jackson died from malnutrition and not from physical abuse.

"We all want to know what the cause of death is," Spencer said outside the jail. "I think the autopsy is going to show that the baby died of malnutrition, I don't believe there are going to be an injuries, blunt force trauma or any type of injuries to that child."

Hamilton told the judge that Blake Farrey was placed in Michigan Child Protective Services because he was "grossly underweight."

Spencer said Jeffrey Farrey did not cause the death of his son.

"Jeffrey has been cooperating with everyone, he has been very forthright," Spencer said, "He knows he had nothing to do with the death of his youngest son, Jackson."

Spencer added that his client is not a flight risk and was in Michigan to try to take his older son to family members who live in Illinois.

"All of Jeffrey's family members live up there, in relative close proximity, and they understood they had to face these issues," Spencer said.

"Jeffrey understood he had to come and face these issues in El Paso and was interested in putting his oldest son not in the hands of a stranger with child protective services but with family members."

Spencer also said, "He was never a flight risk from this country. He had plenty of opportunity but he did not. That was not the purpose of the trip."

A examining trial is scheduled for Dec. 12 in which the District Attorney's Office will try to prove probably cause, Spencer said.

Until then, Jeffrey Farrey remains in the El Paso County Jail and is still on suicide watch, Spencer said.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_24642697/prosecutors-body-jackson-farrey-buried-desert-almost-month