The Billings Police Department has announced that a missing person’s report has been upgraded to a homicide investigation. According to BPD, officers took a missing person’s report for a 12-year-old juvenile male who had run away from a relative roughly two weeks prior and had not been heard from since on March 7.

The case was assigned to the BPD Investigations Unit which worked with the BIA. Detectives followed up leads for the victim’s whereabouts in Billings and Pryor. Authorities served a search warrant at a residence in the 900 block of Terry Avenue on the morning of March 15, 2024.

BPD says detectives found a deceased person hidden in an outbuilding on the property. At this time, the body is presumed to be that of the missing juvenile. A 13-year-old male has been charged with tampering with evidence. A 19-year-old male has been detained as a person of interest. The investigation is ongoing.