7-Year-Old Found In Storage Unit Had Been Dead Since May: Cops

DENVER, CO – A seven-year-old boy's body was hidden in a Denver storage unit since at least May, the Denver Post reported.

Elisha A. Pankey, 43, who also used the name Elisha McWilliams and who is the mother of deceased Caden McWilliams, turned herself in to Denver police Wednesday in connection with a missing persons investigation beginning Dec. 21 for Caden out of Aurora.

Pankey is being held for investigation of child abuse resulting in death.

Related: Husband Of Mom Of Dead Denver Boy, 7, Also Arrested

Although the arrest affidavit was under seal, the Post obtained 2018 homicide data through an open records request. There was not an indication of the cause of death, but police believe Caden died at the storage unit in the 5000 block of East Evans Avenue on May 24, 2018.

Acting on a tip, Aurora and Denver police investigators found Caden's body in the storage unit on Dec. 23. Police did not say who gave them the tip.

Pankey was arrested Dec. 22 for drug possession after an Aurora police officer involved in the missing person investigation found heroin in her hotel room at an Extended Stay hotel, an arrest affidavit cited by the Post said. She was released from the Arapahoe County jail on a recognizance bond on Dec. 24, the day after her son's body was found, the Post reported.

She is now being held in Denver County jail on $250,000 bond. The prosecutor from the Denver District Attorney's office told the court that Pankey has another child currently in protective custody, the Post reported.

Denver Police are requesting anyone with information regarding Elisha Pankey or her 7-year old son to please contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).

READ MORE in the Denver Post.

Image via Denver Police Dept.

This story has been updated to correct the age of Elisha A. Pankey, who is 43.

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