Family Say Body Dug Up May be Missing Fresno Teenager

FRESNO – The body of a teenage boy, which was dug up in the backyard of a Fresno home, may be that of a 15-year-old who has been missing since 2009, his family says.

Steve Humphrey was reported missing in 2009

Investigators received a tip that a body might be buried in a back yard on Dearing Avenue. On Tuesday, a decomposed body was dug up from several feet underground in the back yard of a house at 235 S. Dearing Ave. Police have not identified the body, but the family members believe it is Steven Humphrey.

Four years ago, Humphrey told his grandmother and older sister that he was heading up Dearing Avenue to go to the store, but he never returned and hasn’t been seen since. His family has told the media outlets that they believe he was murdered. Police have yet to identify the body.

The Fresno Police Department has also not released a cause of death, but the Fresno County Coroner’s Office lists the death as a homicide. A DNA and dental record analysis will reveal the identity.

Body was dug up in the backyard of this home

David Essman, Humphrey’s father, told the Fresno Bee that he thinks a man living in the home, where the body was dug up, killed his son. Essman identified him to the Bee as Ricardo Rosas.

Rosas is currently in Fresno County Jail for violation of probation.

Court files show that Rosas was in a relationship with Humphrey’s older sister in 2008 and was accused of beating her in September of that year.

A month after Humphrey disappeared in 2009, Rosas was accused of making threats against Humphrey’s sister and her father and throwing Molotov cocktails at their house. He pleaded no contest to felony possession of flammable material, records show.

Read More:

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Fresno Bee: Fresno man suspects neighbor killed his son

New York Daily News: Body found may be of Fresno teen Steven Humphry, missing since 2009