Child’s Body Found at River; Mother’s Boyfriend Denies Role

Remains believed to be the decomposed body of slain 6-year-old Amber Avey were found in a shallow grave near the San Diego River in Mission Valley on Monday, San Diego police reported.

The boyfriend of the child’s mother, John Phillip Moncrief, 30, pleaded innocent Friday to charges that he murdered the child.

Police began an extensive search near the river for the body earlier this month after Amber’s mother, Linda Williams, told police where the child’s body had been buried, homicide detective Sgt. Bob Manis said.

Fifty officers had led an exhaustive search for the body in Mission Valley on Sept. 13, uncovering little evidence, Manis said. On Monday, four officers, digging in the same area heavy with brush east of Stadium Way and Camino del Rio North, found the remains in a grave less than two feet deep.

Two of Amber’s uncles had reported to police in June that they had not seen the child, and the County Child Abuse Protective Services and San Diego Police Department’s child abuse unit had begun investigating the complaint, Manis said Monday.

Not until police were investigating the beating and near-drowning of Williams in Cuyamaca Mountain campground Aug. 30, did Williams reveal to police that Amber had been beaten to death Feb. 21. Williams told police about the slaying and the disposal of the body during questioning Sept. 12, and officers began digging near the river the next day, Manis said.

Williams and her 12-year-old son, Matthew, told police they had been afraid to report the killing because Moncrief had threatened to kill Williams and her two remaining children.

In addition to the murder charges, the unemployed mechanic pleaded innocent Friday before Municipal Court Judge Nicholas Kasimatis to charges of threatening a witness. A preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 7.

Moncrief also was ordered held for trial in El Cajon in connection with the beating and near-drowning of Williams.