Police Search Parks For 11-Year-Old William McQuain

Step-father charged with murder of mother

Update: Montgomery County police are searching two parks for the body of 11-year-old William McQuain, reports the Associated Press.

Police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks says police and volunteers are searching Damascus Regional Park and Little Bennett Regional Park, after receiving leads that suggest McQuain's body may be located in one of those areas.

Starks declined to be more specific but says the search does not mean that authorities are sure the boy is dead. Police dogs and mounted units are involved in the search.

Original story:

Police in Maryland have made an arrest in the the killing of 51-year-old Jane McQuain of Germantown, but they are still looking for her 11-year-old son, William.

Authorities say they found Jane McQuain in her home in the 13100 block of Briarcliff Terrace Wednesday evening, her body having suffered trauma. The death was ruled a homicide, and officers are now focusing on the safe return of 11-year-old William McQuain, according to Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas J. Manger.

The best hope, Manger said Thursday, is that William is with other family members or friends who do not know that he is missing. The 6th-grader at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School was last seen at the home on Sept. 30. He's African American with light skin, about 5 feet tall, and weighs 85 pounds. 

Developments in the case have thus far not led to the boy. Police recovered Jane McQuain's missing car, a 2011 black Honda CRV, in Charlotte, N.C. yesterday; later, they arrested her estranged husband, 45-year-old Curtis Lopez in Charlotte and charged him with first-degree murder in the death of Jane McQuain, according to reports. Lopez was in possession of his wife's car at the time of his arrest.

But police say he has not been cooperating with investigators since his apprehension. He did not live with Jane McQuain or his stepson, but he did frequent the home, says Manger. He was arrested him because of what they called "inconsistent statements" about their relationship, the chief adds.

"According to witnesses, Mr. Lopez was recently seen in the area of Ms. McQuain's residence," he says. "And was seen removing property from the residence and loading it ino the victim's vehicle."

Lopez had previously served 10 years in prison for stabbing a man more than a dozen times, according to the Washington Post.

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