Missing Man Now Listed as Suspect in Boy’s Abduction

Sheriff’s deputies Tuesday for the first time declared Raymond Eugene Ferrell a suspect in the disappearance of 3-year-old Bobby Crawford, whose body was believed found Monday night.

Bobby was in the care of Ferrell, the boyfriend of the youngster’s mother, when he was last seen alive Oct. 27. Ferrell was questioned by investigators but disappeared after being released. Previously, authorities said they wanted Ferrell for more questioning, but declined to identify him as a suspect.

On Tuesday, however, Sgt. Joe Szeles, a spokesman for the department, confirmed that Ferrell is a suspect, although others have not been ruled out.

“We believe he is in the local area and several friends and relatives are trying to find him for us,” said Szeles.

Meanwhile, Riverside County coroner’s officials delayed identification of the body of a boy discovered in a shallow grave near Lake Mathews pending the results of an autopsy scheduled for Tuesday night.

Authorities said earlier, however, that clothes on the boy’s body were like those worn by Bobby, who was last seen a week ago with his 18-month-old brother, Jason, in Ferrell’s dune buggy at a convenience store near their Glen Avon home.

Custody Question

The family’s efforts turned Tuesday to trying to regain custody of Jason Crawford, who was turned over to the county Department of Social Services after evidence, including bruises on his neck, indicated that he may have been abused. Karen Hill, the boy’s mother, has not been arrested because the evidence was inconclusive, authorities said.

“I just want Jason back,” said Hill, fighting back tears at her father’s home Tuesday. “I’ll do what I can to get him back.”

Hill’s father, Robert Hill, 50, of Glen Avon, said, “Karen is not guilty of any child abuse whatsoever. . . . She would never hurt that child.”

He also said Ferrell did not inform the family that the boy was missing until 12 hours after his disappearance. Karen Hill, her children and Ferrell had been staying at Hill’s house at the time of the boy’s disappearance.

Robert Hill said that the children had been left in Ferrell’s care while their mother was at work last Tuesday. Ferrell was asleep on the couch when she returned later that night, he said. Assuming that her children were also sleeping, she went to bed herself, he said.

Missed in the Morning

“At 5 a.m. I woke up and my daughter was crying, ‘Where’s Bobby?’ ” Hill said. “Ray said, ‘He’s been kidnaped.’ He said he didn’t report it to the police because he thought her ex-husband had taken him.”

Later that morning, sheriff’s investigators interviewed Ferrell, who told them a similar story, authorities said. Since then, however, authorities say they have uncovered inconsistencies in Ferrell’s statement.

Hundreds of friends and relatives of the boy’s mother and father, Robert Crawford, 26, have temporarily stopped their own search for Bobby Crawford while coroner’s officials conduct an autopsy.