Bodies of dad, son are found in forest

Sheriff: Search held up by wife

Yell County Sheriff Bill Gilkey speaks to reporters Tuesday after authorities found the bodies of Brian Floyd, 33, and his 10-month-old son, Harper, near Blue Mountain Lake.
Yell County Sheriff Bill Gilkey speaks to reporters Tuesday after authorities found the bodies of Brian Floyd, 33, and his 10-month-old son, Harper, near Blue Mountain Lake.

The bodies of a missing infant and his father were found near Blue Mountain Lake in the Ouachita Mountains on Tuesday afternoon after a four-day search.

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Members of the U.S. Forest Service investigation team found the body of 10-month-old Harper Floyd at 1:30 p.m. and Brian Floyd, 33, about an hour later. The FBI, Arkansas State Police and other agencies assisted in the search.

The bodies were about half a mile north of Floyd's truck, which authorities found Monday afternoon, Yell County Sheriff Bill Gilkey announced at a news conference at the scene. The truck was parked in a treacherous area, without a road leading to it.

"It was in a very unique area of the Ouachita National Forest," Gilkey said. "I'm still totally in awe of how the truck ended up resting where it was resting."

Information about the cause of death was not immediately available. The bodies were transported to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for autopsies.

Authorities also found Floyd's backpack, which contained "some materials," Gilkey said. No weapon was recovered at the scene.

The Yell County sheriff's office became aware of the situation Friday afternoon when forest personnel discovered a woman wandering along a remote road south of Blue Mountain Lake.

Brooke Floyd, the infant's mother, said her husband and son were stuck in the mountains after their vehicle broke down.

To Gilkey's knowledge, the family from Greenwood in Sebastian County had not told anyone they were going to the national forest.

Their last public sighting was Thursday evening at a convenience store in Mansfield, on the border of Sebastian and Scott counties.

On Monday, the Yell County sheriff's office also confirmed that deputies arrested Brooke Floyd, saying she hindered apprehension or prosecution and endangered the welfare of a minor.

Gilkey said Brooke Floyd was of little help to the investigation Friday and Saturday night. Her involvement Sunday and Monday helped locate the truck, he said.

She was taken to the scene several times over the weekend, Gilkey said.

"She obviously came to this area with the child," Gilkey said. "We felt as though she left the child in a very unbearable and possibly dangerous situation."

Gilkey said Yell County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Tatum II will determine whether Brooke Floyd will face charges. A call to Tatum's office was not returned Tuesday evening.

In a separate incident, Brian Floyd was arrested last week by Sebastian County sheriff's deputies on a misdemeanor charge of communicating a false alarm.

According to the July 20 arrest report, Floyd had called the sheriff's office multiple times.

When officers arrived at his home, Floyd was in his truck and "appeared to be in a manic state and hallucinating," the document stated.

He reported that a woman had broken into his home and was driving around his residence and that police dressed in black with police dogs were on his roof.

Deputies contacted a family member, who said that Floyd had been having trouble with medication for his mental health.

Lt. Philip Pevehouse of the Sebastian County sheriff's office said that before that incident, he was not aware of any previous issues concerning Floyd.

State Desk on 07/30/2014

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