Missing boy’s body found in home where three others were discovered dead
The body of a boy who was 12 years old when he went missing four years was found in a ‘house of horrors’ where three others were found dead.
Jaylen Griffin’s decomposed remains were recovered from the attic of an upstate New York home on April 12, a week before what would have been his 16th birthday, said Buffalo Police Department Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.
His body appeared to have been ‘up there in the house’ at 107 Sheffield Avenue for a ‘significant amount of time’, said Gramaglia.
Jaylen’s mother, Joann Ponzo, said in 2021 that her son took a new puppy on a walk and vanished in August 2020. Ponzo, 48, died in September never knowing what became of Jaylen.
The home where his body was recovered had more than 160 complaints recorded with cops since 2007, according to 911 logs obtained by WIVB, including fires, domestic violence and wellness checks. The multi-room residence was not officially a halfway house, but jail records showed that sex offenders and people recently released from prison lived there, officials told the news outlet.
In addition, three corpses were found.
A first body was discovered on a June 2020 welfare check, police records showed. In September 2022, another dead body found led to an arrest. And in August 2023, a body turned up in the yard.
Crime Stoppers offered a $7,500 reward for information to leading to Jaylen’s whereabouts or recovery. Anyone with information on the crime is urged to contact the police department.
Jaylen’s family and friends held a candlelight vigil at Central Terminal in Buffalo on Monday, when he would have turned 16.
‘I’m feeling very grateful that everyone has came out to show their support for Jaylen that’s how I’m feeling right now,’ said his grandmother, Shirley Banks, according to WIVB. ‘My heart is overjoyed he was loved.’
Jaylen’s father, Brian Griffin, said: ‘I was looking for confirmation and closure I finally got it.
‘I’d rather know than not know, it’s been a long journey I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone.’
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