3-year-old son "disappears" while under Dad's sole care; blood evidence in house suggests brutal beating--why wasn't this little boy with his mother in Arkansas? (Memphis, Tennessee)

What the custodial arrangement here was is not explained. Maybe Dad MAURICE BROWN SR. had court-ordered custody. Maybe he had some sort of out-of-state visitation (which is ridiculous with a preschooler.) Maybe it was just an informal "arrangement" with the mother, that may or may not have been voluntary on her part. (It is not uncommon for the police to refuse to intervene when a father won't return the child to the mother, especially if she doesn't have a piece of paper saying she has sole custody.)

But whatever it was, this is what "children need their daddies" bullsh** leads to. The care of a young child being entrusted to a self-admitted gang member daddy who fancies himself "an artist" (see the accompanying video at the link below) and who thinks of nothing of parking his 3-year-old son "24/7" in front of a TV. Yet he's praised as a "very loving" father. Total. Complete. Crap.

What he is, in my humble opinion, is a total con. A self-absorbed narcissist. A pathological liar. A sociopath who seemingly murdered this little boy in a vicious bloody beating. He sounds just like my ex, who is a total sociopath of just this type. Just can't stop talking about himself and how cool he is.

http://www.kait8.com/story/18929570/3-year-old-boy-missing-overnight?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7459869
Father charged in disappearance of 3-year-old son

Posted: Jul 02, 2012 4:44 AM CDT Updated: Jul 02, 2012 9:40 PM CDT

By WMCTV.com Staff

Maurice Brown, Jr., 3, went missing at 10:30 p.m. Sunday

MEMPHIS, TN -
(WMC-TV) – Memphis Police have confirmed that Maurice Brown Senior has been charged with aggravated child neglect and endangerment in the disappearance of his son, 3-year-old, Maurice Brown Jr.

People have been searching for the missing boy on the ground and in the air.

Police found a lot of what appeared to be blood in the Brown family apartment, and there is even more disturbing information coming out.

"I'm hurt, I'm hurt, I'm hurt," Maurice Brown said Monday morning. He's now at 201 Poplar charged with aggravated child neglect and endangerment of a child.

The affidavit of complaint paints a chilling picture of what could have happened to 3 year old Maurice Brown, Jr.

In the apartment, police found what appeared to be blood splatter on the bathroom walls, pooling of blood in the bathroom closet, blood drops on the floor and tub area and a bloody piece of white cloth. The report says enough blood was found to point to blunt force trauma and that the child has been seriously injured.
Maurice Brown Jr., went missing at 8:30 p.m. on South Pauline Street. His father, Maurice Brown Senior, told police that gang members took his son to retaliate against him. He said he fell asleep and when he woke up, his boy was gone.

"I searched the house and he was nowhere to be found. I got my other son off the couch and walked around the block. Got in my car, drove around the block and called the police and from there they haven't told me anything," said Maurice Brown, Senior.

Brown told police about an argument he had with the missing 3 year old Sunday night because the child wet his pants. Brown said he'd planned on spanking the boy but instead made him sit on the couch and watch TV. Then Brown told us he fell asleep for an hour in the same room as his sons, Maurice Jr. and his one year old brother. Brown said when he woke the door was wide open and only the younger boy was there. He says he took the one year old to search the neighborhood for Maurice. However the affidavit says that an upstairs neighbor saw Brown walk out of the apartment towards the parking lot with the larger of the two children draped over his right shoulder and not the one year old as Brown maintains. His neighbors don't know what to think.
"Very surprising. He's very loving from what I've seen with the kids. He's very loving and very protective," a neighbor said.

Police used a helicopter, dogs, and several officers to scan the area in search of the missing boy.

Despite the presence of homicide detectives, police say they're still treating their investigation as a missing person's case.

The boy's dad told Action News 5 that he is affiliated with a gang called the Grape Street Crips. Maurice Brown Senior said he may have enemies but he wants his son back.
"There's a lot of people that know me, there's a lot of people that hate me, but for them to know where I live at, or however the situation may be, I need my son back," said the boy's father.

Police took Maurice Senior's vehicle from the scene as part of the investigation.

"They said there's some kind of mud or something that was on my car but I didn't really see why they took my car," he said. "They talking about some mud, how did it come here, all part of the procedure, you know, you gotta take the car.

Maurice Senior also said they took something else from his home during the investigation.
"I had a bath towel where I cut my finger at, you know, and that's what they took."

Maurice Senior told Action News 5 that he will do anything to get his son back.

"I love him to death. He was happy kid, never did nothing to nobody, he never did nothing to nobody, all he do is sit in front of the TV, 24/7 watching TV, he never moved," said his father.

He is about three feet tall and 65 pounds. Maurice was last seen wearing a blue, Batman shirt and blue jeans.

"I got nothing to live for really, because that was my soldier," said Maurice Senior. "That was my soldier, you know. And I need him. I need him back, man. I need him back."

His mother lives in Arkansas.

Late Monday afternoon, police at the missing boy's home sprinted away after a report that he had been found four blocks away.

And while the report turned out to be a false alarm, two people were arrested after arguing with police.

If you have any information about the little boy's whereabouts, you are asked to contact Memphis Police at 901-545-2677.