Father of Boy Found Under Orange County Billboard Reportedly Indicted

More than 20 years after the body of a young boy was found under a billboard in Orange County, the child’s father has been indicted on murder charges.

Multiple outlets are reporting John Russell Whitt was indicted on one count of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of death for disposing of the child’s body.

Orange County authorities had been investigating the death since the boy’s body was found under a billboard on I-85 in September 1998 by a mowing crew. Officials from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in February identified the boy as Robert “Bobby” Adam Whitt after a recent break in the case.

The sheriff’s office received DNA analysis results from Ancestry DNA and Parabon, officials said at the time, that made the connection between the child and his family.

The family, who lives in Ohio, had been told the child and his mother were out of the country.

Through this investigation, the boy’s mother was also identified as a murder victim whose body was found in Spartanburg, South Carolina, roughly three months before the child’s body was found in Orange County.

Authorities said in February that a suspect was known in the case and implied that it was the child’s father. Officials said the suspect had been in custody on armed robbery charges since shortly after the murders were committed.

Father of Boy Found Under Orange County Billboard Reportedly Indicted

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