A Missouri couple is sitting behind bars after authorities discovered the skeletal remains of their teenage son buried in a shallow grave at the family’s home, according to Missouri law enforcement.
Chaun Asbury, 42, and Tamala Asbury, 45, each face charges of second-degree murder, child abuse or neglect resulting in death, and abandonment of a corpse. Prosecutors also charged them with three counts of domestic assault and eight counts of child abuse or neglect.
According to the Texas County Sheriff’s Office, investigators launched the case in 2025. In March, deputies executed a search warrant at the Asbury home on Lundy Road in Piney Township, about 90 miles east of Springfield.
Investigators quickly took the couple into custody after arriving at the property, according to the sheriff’s office.
“As law enforcement approached the residence an adult male identified as Chaun Asbury attempted to flee the residence and was apprehended,” the press release states. “An adult female identified as Tamala Asbury exited the residence and was detained.”
Inside the home, deputies found three juveniles, including “one of the juveniles locked in a shed with no utilities, bound to a bed,” according to the sheriff’s office. Authorities described the child as “severely malnourished” and said the juvenile required “urgent medical care.”
Initially, prosecutors charged the couple with five counts each of child abuse.
But investigators soon uncovered even more disturbing details.
“During the search, deputies found the living conditions to be unsanitary, as the residence did not have utilities or sewer,” the press release states. “[D]eputies found evidence of physical abuse and unnecessary physical restraint to the children.”
“Whenever we got out there, one of the suspects fled, trying to flee the scene with, two of the smaller children,” Chief Deputy Rowdy Douglas told Springfield CBS affiliate KOLR. “Once the parents were detained, we got the children. We started seeing the shape that they were in. They were very, malnourished, dirty and obviously extremely scared. We were told by the hospital, that the youngest one was probably a day or so from maybe passing away too.”
As deputies continued investigating, they discovered “skeletal remains in a shallow grave on the property,” according to the sheriff’s office. At the time, investigators did not know who the remains belonged to, though authorities suspected they had found missing teenager Ceasar Asbury.
“The findings are consistent with a missing person Ceasar Asbury, that had previously been reported as a possible runaway by the suspects,” the sheriff’s office said in March.
Authorities now say those suspicions were correct.
Texas County Sheriff Scott Lindsey announced Thursday that the St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office used dental records to confirm the remains belonged to Ceasar Asbury, the couple’s missing 18-year-old son.
In total, the Asburys were indicted on nine additional charges.
“This is absolutely the worst case of child abuse and neglect that I have encountered in my 28 plus years of law enforcement,” the sheriff said in a statement. “The life that was lost and the other lives of the children that were affected by this situation is a horrible tragedy.”
According to the sheriff’s office, the defendants are being held in the Texas County Jail without bond.
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