Police were able to locate the body of a young boy in the freezer at a Las Vegas home after his sister handed her elementary school teacher a note.
According to USA Today, the note said her mom's boyfriend kept her mom in their home against her will. It also said that the mom had not seen her younger son for months. The message prompted the police to investigate, leading to a freezer in the garage where the body of her younger brother was kept. The mom's boyfriend was also arrested.
On Tuesday, the teacher alerted the authorities at 8 AM, prompting the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officer to conduct surveillance in the family's home in northeast Las Vegas.
The children's mother and her boyfriend, Brandon Toseland, were seen leaving the house. The police intercepted them and detained Toseland while they interviewed the children's mother.
Abuse at home
The mother told the police officers that her boyfriend had abused her. She also said she could not leave home and feared that her son might have been killed. The mother told the police that she did not know the whereabouts of her pre-school child.
A lawyer for the woman told the Associated Press that she had been subjected to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse for months. Toseland threatened that he would kill her children if she ever left him. The lawyer also said that the woman was locked in a room, bound or handcuffed all the time. She never had the chance to take her daughter and run, News 3LV reported.
Toseland did not allow the mother to see her son, and he told her that the boy had become sick and "it was too late." He later told the mother that the boy was dead, and she could not see his body because Toseland would lose his freedom. The police report also indicated that Toseland never called the police or paramedics.
It further stated that the abuse started slowly and methodically increasing control over them when the mother and the two kids moved in with him. He covered windows, used video surveillance, sequestered the mother's phone, and isolated her from her family.
The woman worked as a health care technician collecting blood samples from patients until her work received a message that she quit one day.
Missing boy identified
When the officers searched the garage, they found the boy's body in the freezer. Authorities also said that it showed "visible injuries," and they also found a hole dug in the backyard, which they believed may be intended to serve as the makeshift grave.
The boy's family also identified the child as Mason Dominguez. The mother told authorities that she had not seen her son since December 11, 2021. The 4-year-old boy's father died of pneumonia in 2021 at 29.
As of Thursday, 8 News Now reported that Toseland is now facing murder and kidnapping charges.
