Montgomery County police found a body believed to be that of missing 11-year-old William McQuain, Police Chief Thomas Manger announced Tuesday.
"We had that little shred of hope that we would find William, that maybe the suspect dropped him off somewhere and said, 'Keep William,'" Manger said. "That's what we were praying for."
Investigators concentrated their search Tuesday in the wooded area near a Liberty gas station on Clarksburg Road in Clarksburg, Md.
About 9 a.m., a K-9 unit discovered the remains of an African-American child, police said. Further forensic tests will be run to make a positive identification.
A surveillance camera at a nearby self-storage facility where William's mother rented a unit recorded William and his mother's estranged husband, 45-year-old Curtis Lopez, together Oct. 1, police said. The video shows Lopez and the boy entering and leaving a unit at the facility. According to police, the boy appeared to be in a playful mood in the video recording, showing no signs of distress. Sources said the video showed McQuain rollerblading in the parking lot at the facility.
Police believe a short time after that video was recorded, Lopez killed William and left his body in the woods, News4's Pat Collins reported.
Investigators said the clothing on the body discovered Tuesday seems to match the clothes William McQuain wore that day.
Friends of William upset by the news were allowed to leave Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Germantown. Grief counselors went to the school to talk to students.
Maryland State Police activated an Amber Alert for McQuain Oct. 13. According to investigators, the boy had not been seen since Sept. 30. Montgomery County police requested that Amber Alert be canceled Tuesday.
His mother, 51-year-old Jane McQuain, was found dead in her Germantown home on October 13. She was beaten and stabbed to death, police said.
Lopez was arrested in North Carolina in connection with her death.
A woman named Pleshette Caldwell got into a minor accident while driving McQuain's black Honda CRV in Charlotte on Oct. 12. Caldwell told investigators it was her boyfriend's mother's car, according to police documents.
The investigation into the accident led law enforcement to a nearby Econo Lodge, where Lopez was staying.
According to court documents, Caldwell told police Lopez returned to Charlotte Oct. 1, driving Jane McQuain's black CRV. Inside the vehicle, Caldwell said, was a large-screen TV and an X-Box video game system.
Police did not find those items, but after a search of the car and hotel, they discovered a box cutter, a credit card belonging to McQuain, nine $100 bills and two soda cans that could be swabbed for DNA. In addition, investigators found 18 copies of a marriage license.
Lopez declined his right to an extradition hearing on Monday and will be transported back to Maryland for prosecution.
