Body of Woman Allegedly Killed by 17-Year-Old After Her Son Refused Suspect's Ultimatum Remains Missing
Kaitlyn Coones, 17, and her 33-year-old boyfriend allegedly dumped Nicole Jones' body in a dumpster after killing her in April, say police
An Ohio woman’s adult son and the son's teenage girlfriend have been charged in connection with her brutal April killing after being apprehended in Mexico, but the victim's body still hasn’t been found.
On May 5, officers with the Sylvania Township Police Department searched for Nicole Jones, 53, at her condo on Timbers Edge Boulevard in Sylvania Township, near Toledo, but were unable to find her, the department said in a statement.
The next day, authorities announced that they were searching for her son, Jonathan Jones, 33, who had fled to Mexico with Canton teen Kaitlyn Coones, who was reported missing on April 11 from the foster home where she was living.
Considered a fugitive from justice, Jonathan had evaded sentencing for convictions on charges of pandering obscene material and child endangerment, prosecutors told ABC 13.
He had been convicted in March for having sex with Coones months earlier and for planning to sell pictures of them having sex, prosecutors said, ABC 13, News 19 and the Sentinel-Tribune report.
On May 6, Coones wrote in a Facebook post that she had no idea who Jonathan Jones was.
"I don't know any jonthon jones and you guys are putting us together, shame on you people," she wrote.
Two days later, on May 8, the U.S. Marshals Service announced that it had apprehended Jonathan in Mexico and located Coones, who was subsequently arrested on May 13. Prosecutors alleged Coones confessed to the killing.
Related: Ohio 17-Year-Old Gave Adult Boyfriend 5 Hours to Kill His Mom, Then Killed Woman Herself: Police
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Jones was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. He remains held in jail. His bond was set at $1.125 million.
Prosecutors allege that Coones killed Nicole by hitting her over the head with a rock in her kitchen and strangling the woman because she felt she disapproved of her relationship with her son.
She had allegedly given Jones five hours to kill his mother, threatening to end their relationship if he didn't, prosecutors allege, ABC 13 reports.
When Jonathan failed to kill his mother, Coones took it upon herself to murder her, prosecutors claim, News 19 reports.
Prosecutors allege that Coones and Jonathan dumped Nicole’s body in a dumpster behind an apartment complex that was taken to a landfill, the Canton Repository reports.
On Friday, a judge ruled that Coones will be tried as an adult in connection with Nicole’s death. She is charged with aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.
Will Nicole Jones' Remains Ever Be Found?
As police continue to investigate, Nicole’s body remains missing.
Authorities say her body may actually never be found, ABC 13 reports.
Nicole’s family criticized authorities for not doing enough to find her remains and bring them closure, ABC 13 reported.
Back in May, her family met with the Sylvania Township Police Department and, according to ABC 13, were led to believe the department had a location to conduct a search for Nicole’s body.
“After that meeting, our family believed that no attempt to recover Nicole Jones would be made,” the family said in a statement to ABC13. “We were in shock. In two days, we reached out to STPD to ask them to make some effort to find Nicole. Even now, we implore all local, State and Federal agencies to do something besides estimate the potential costs and try to find Nicole.”
They said in the statement that they hope Nicole’s body is found so they can have some kind of closure.
“We also need to give our grieving family a place where we can pay our respects to Nicole,” the statement continued. “We are praying that she be found not only for us, but so that the accused can be prosecuted with all the evidence needed to bring justice for Nicole. THAT she deserves.”
The Wood County Sheriff’s Office and the Sylvania Township Police Department did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment about the status of the search.
It is unclear whether Jonathan has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf. Coones’s attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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