Remains believed to be Malik Drummond found; father held on murder charge

Jeffery Leroy Clifton, left, and Malik Drummond.
Jeffery Leroy Clifton, left, and Malik Drummond.

Remains believed to be those of a Searcy toddler missing for more than a year have been found in a rural area of Jackson County, police said Wednesday afternoon.

Late Tuesday, Searcy police arrested and charged the father of Malik Drummond, 43-year-old Jeffery Leroy Clifton, with capital murder and abuse of a corpse in relation to Drummond's disappearance, according to authorities.

Drummond, who was last seen Nov. 23, 2014, at the age of 2, was reported to have wandered off from his home on the 700 block of West Park Avenue.

A volunteer-driven search was called off by police after a week, though authorities at the time continued a dive-team search of the Little Red River that yielded no results.

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the boy's disappearance, the FBI had offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to a suspect in a criminal investigation.

See Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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