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Adopted mother of Jesse Wilson arrested for hiding the 10-year-old's body, now back in Arizona, police say

Buckeye police said that Crystal Wilson was arrested in her home in Gainesville, Georgia on Sunday, Dec. 11. She has since been booked into Maricopa County Jail.

BUCKEYE, Ariz. — It's been over half a decade since 10-year-old Jesse Wilson went missing. His remains were found in 2018, but the case seemed to have gone quiet.

On Monday, Buckeye police said that they have finally made an arrest.

Jesse's adopted mother, Crystal Wilson, was arrested at her home in Gainesville, Georgia, on Monday by local law enforcement, police said.

On Saturday, Mar. 4, Buckeye police announced that Wilson was back in Arizona, and had been booked overnight into Maricopa County Jail.

"Me and my family just wanna thank everyone for working the case," said Jesse's biological grandmother, Cynthia Lauderdale. "We never gave up hope that justice was going to be served."

"I did have my suspicions from the beginning. We love Jesse, and we never gave up hope, and he's in our minds, and he stayed with us every single day," Lauderdale added.  

Authorities said the evidence wasn't significant enough to press Crystal with homicide charges. However, she is being charged with abandoning or concealing a corpse, and police believe that she was responsible for moving Jesse's body from the home.

Wilson wasn't found until his remains -- mostly bones, a partial skull, and a shirt -- were recovered two years after his disappearance. The state of the remains led to a medical examiner saying the cause and manner of death to both be "undetermined" in 2018.

Police said that even with the arrest, it's still not entirely clear how Jesse died. According to authorities, Crystal never offered that information.

"She's given us conflicting statements, but there's never been an admission," police said. "She knows what happened; she's not telling us; the onus is on her."

Credit: Buckeye Police Department
Law enforcement arrests Crystal Wilson, adopted mother of 10-year-old Jesse Wilson, at her Georgia home.

Investigators were hoping to make an arrest in the case in 2018, saying the case was close to being complete. But that was before the medical examination.

Although the investigation seemed slow at times, Cynthia said that she never lost hope. Buckeye police thanked their law enforcement partners with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Gainesville Police Department for their part in the arrest.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 

A 2019 DCS investigation into Jesse's mother, Crystal, found contradictions in what she had previously told investigators during her son's disappearance, including:

  • Telling investigators she didn't drink, even though there were 12 liquor bottles on display on her dresser and nothing but liquor and wine in the fridge
  • Saying she never locked her children in their rooms, even though the door handles were flipped so the locks faced out
  • Saying she didn't have any struggles with drug addiction, even though there was a tub of numerous antipsychotic medications and a drug used to treat heroin addiction under her bed

READ MORE: Jesse Wilson's mother contradicted herself repeatedly to investigators, DCS says

The Buckeye development today will be the first development in the case since the 2019 DCS investigation findings.

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: 6 años después de la desaparición, hay 'desarrollo significativo' en el caso de Jesse Wilson

This is a developing story. Tune in to 12News for the latest information. 

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