Mother hid son's body in trunk of car ( Archived) (15)

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - The body of a toddler found in the trunk of his mother's car may have been there for months as she drove around town, evaded questions about him and was even arrested, police said.

The mother, Summer ManyWhiteHorses, was charged Monday with deliberate homicide. Authorities say the body of her 2-year-old son, James, was found Friday in the trunk of her car - more than six weeks after it was towed to a wrecking yard when she was arrested.

Deputy County Attorney Joel Thompson said authorities have yet to determine how or when the boy died. An autopsy is being conducted. According to court records, ManyWhiteHorses told police the boy's death was an accident, and that she placed his body in the car's trunk on May 29.

ManyWhiteHorses was being held on $250,000 bail. During a brief court hearing, she appeared without an attorney and was provided forms for a public defender.

Personnel at the Cascade County Detention Center turned away a reporter's attempt to speak with her Monday because it was outside visiting hours.

ManyWhiteHorses was first arrested July 21, after authorities said she was driving erratically. As police attempted to pull her over, she drove through several stoplights and crashed into a parked car. Her 11-year-old daughter was in the back seat and, unknown to police, the toddler's body was apparently in the trunk, authorities said.

Police officers did not search the trunk, and the car was towed. ManyWhiteHorses was arrested, and child welfare officials began looking into placing the daughter into state custody.

ManyWhiteHorses was given misdemeanor citations in connection with the crash and later released from jail. Authorities said she did not retrieve her car even though she was free to do so.

Child welfare officials moved for custody of the daughter in August and were trying to determine the boy's whereabouts.

During the investigation, authorities learned that ManyWhiteHorses told relatives the state had taken the toddler long ago, that state officials were told initially the child was in Browning and then later that he was in Portland, Ore.

"Her stories varied based upon who she was talking to," said police Detective Bruce McDermott.

Police were brought into the case last week after child welfare agents could not verify the toddler's location. A short time later, ManyWhiteHorses told officers the toddler, who had autism, had died in late May, according to court records. ManyWhiteHorses told police she put the body in the trunk, wrapped in a blanket inside a garbage bag, the affidavit said.

Officers went to the wrecking yard and found the boy's body in the trunk, authorities said.

ManyWhiteHorses' aunt, Ernestine Small, said she had taken care of the two children during ManyWhiteHorses' prior run-ins with the law. Small had been hoping to take custody again this summer, but was told by ManyWhiteHorses that the toddler had been placed in foster care.

"Nobody expected this," Small said in an interview at the courthouse. "I know she gets violent, but never thought she would do this to her baby."

Both prosecutors and police said the officers followed the law by not searching the trunk after ManyWhiteHorses' July 21 arrest, saying legal cause and a search warrant would have been needed.

"Police had no reason to believe there was anything of evidentiary value in the trunk," McDermott said.

Small, ManyWhiteHorses' aunt, said the officers could not have known to search the trunk.

"Why would they?" she said.


It's things like this that make me wonder why some people are not just sterilized at birth!

Exactly....some people are just cruel...

Horrible and so many out there just as bad

It is not some thing that we like to hear on the news, but it is necessary. It is educating us to these monsters, and sets precedence for childrens rights.

Didn't he have probably cause, she fled and endangered her daughter?

hmmm. I think that the vehicle should have been searched. It probably wouldn't have saved him, but they would have found him earlier.

Why does this seem to happen more and more in our society??

Wish I knew.

Hey darlin...You're right...the information is needed to educate...and the reason they didn't search the car was because she was arrested for erratic driving not the investigation into her sons death...they found out later that he was missing...It's not routine for anything to do with traffic offences or accidents to search the car unless they see or smell drugs or alcohol...so that's why there was no search....

If my child had an accident, I wouldn't put him or her in the trunk. I would seek medical attention. I would do what any normal decent human would do, I would dial 911!

Oh I know that...I was just saying that her first arrest was in relation to the car accident...not her son..and that's why the police didn't search the trunk...and yeah she's obviously lying....What kind of mother puts her child's body in a trunk after he accidently dies....

If my son or daughter accidently died, I would definitely not be as callouse about it as that woman is. I would be distraught.

Some people are not ment to have children. or they are just hear to educate people of those evils that lurk out there, beyond the shadows. It is scary and all, but they remind us that those old tales of strangers in the dark lurking around the corners are in actuality behind us holding the light and claiming they love us and will care for us.

The kind that is grief-stricken and does not want their child being buried ,don’t get me wrong I not saying it was an accident , but I am just pointing out that distraught mothers have been known to do strange things

I know that but I still as a mother can't fathom it....

I am finding it really hard to give an opinion on this.

Because I agree that a griefstricken parent has been known to do so many strange things that nobody can understand.

This mother clearly needs some serious help.

I think that is the point schould anything happen to one of your kids It could drive you crazy