A trial in DeOrr Kunz, Jr case would be near impossible without a body

Despite a strongly worded report from private investigator Phillip Klein, a former prosecutor says the state would have a hard time proving the parents were somehow responsible for the death of Deorr Kunz, Jr., because the toddler’s body has never been found.

So the question is, can someone be charged for murder if a body hasn’t been found? The answer is yes, but it doesn’t happen often.

Former Idaho Attorney General David Leroy tells KBOI2 in Boise that it’s only been within the last 100 years that we’ve seen charges brought against people for murder when a body hasn’t been found.

“That usually involves a significant link of DNA of blood to the victim,” says Leroy. “Of not just a missing person’s but circumstances that show there must have been a death. We just can’t find it.”

Vernal DeOrr Kunz and Jessica Mitchell say their two-and-a-half-year old disappeared in July during a camping trip in eastern Idaho.

Last month, the Lemhi County Sheriff’s office named Deorr’s parents as suspects in the little boy’s disappearance.

Now the private investigator the parents hired believes the parents are lying about their son’s disappearance.

“My belief is charges will be filed,” says Klein. “I do not know when. I do not know what those charges will be, but I do know that there is extensive conversation at this point regarding what those charges will be but my belief is that charges will be filed probably in the near future.”

However — Leroy says looking at the evidence — it’s hard to build a case until the toddler’s body is found.

“It’s impossible for any of us to guess what proof’s there may be but it’s impossible, in my opinion, to bring charges unless you have a body alleging the homicide of a small person in an outdoor area,” says Leroy. “there’s simply too many open ended questions for any jury to find beyond unreasonable doubt that a conviction could take place.”

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Content in this article provided by KBOI2.