Father Charged With Manslaughter Hours After He Pleaded For Help To Find Missing 5-Week-Old Son

An Alabama man has been arrested after police found the remains of his 5-week-old son who was reported missing earlier this week.

The arrest came hours after the child's parents held a press conference Wednesday, pleading for the public's help to find their missing son, reported WBRC. Investigators from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office found the remains of Caleb Whisnand Jr. in a wooded area shortly after the briefing.

The infant's father, Caleb Whisnand Sr., 32, was arrested on charges of manslaughter, the sheriff's office said in a news release Wednesday evening.

"I don't remember a lot, but I did remember I was breaking up, ya know, with the cops," Whisnand Sr. said at the press conference. "If anybody's got anything, any places that I could have gone, you know who you are."

The sheriff's office was notified about the missing infant Monday after Whisnand Sr. made a 911 call.

The parents initially told investigators that their baby was in bed with them Saturday, which was the last time they saw the child. However, the child's mother, Angela Gardner, 28, soon changed the story and said she was at her home with her 2-year-old son, while the infant was with the father. Both Gardner and Whisnand Sr. did not explain where the infant was between Saturday and Monday, reported Al.com.

"He went to go pay gas at the gas station and realized he was gone," Gardner said about her partner. "He let the police know, and me know, that he was missing."

The officials have not revealed the cause of death. Investigators said they were reviewing surveillance footage at the convenience store from where Whisnand Sr. made the 911 call.

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, were assisting Montgomery Police Department in the investigation.

Whisnand Sr. is being held on a $100,000 bond in the Montgomery County Detention Center. He was indicted in February with possession or receipt of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment, possession of drug paraphernalia and illegal possession of prescription drugs.