SOUTHLAND : Upland Police Arrest 2 Teen-Agers in Suspected Murder of Boy, 9

Upland police today arrested two teen-age suspects in the disappearance and suspected murder of a 9-year-old boy missing since Saturday.

Detective Kevin Cushman said a search is under way at an undisclosed site for the body of Jason Matthew Lea and predicted that officers will arrest two other youths in connection with the case later today. The identities of the 16-year-old suspects were not released.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, Jason told his grandfather he was going for a bike ride to Upland High School, not far from his apartment on Orchid Court. Shortly thereafter, witnesses saw the boy playing video games at an arcade on W. Foothill Boulevard, but he was not seen leaving.

Jason’s grandfather, Jerry Yeager, with whom the boy has lived for six years, found the youth’s bicycle outside James Games Family Fun Center arcade at 10 p.m. Saturday. Police had been searching for the missing boy since then. Late Wednesday, detectives received information from two independent sources that prompted the arrests.

“He was such a nice boy,” recalled a neighbor, Alice Lopez. “The first thing that hit you was that great big smile.”