An Oklahoma couple was convicted in the slaying of their foster son—despite the child’s body never being found, according to media reports.
Rex and Rebecca Clark, of Seminole, were found guilty of first-degree murder in the murder of Colton Clark, the foster child. They were also convicted of child abuse of the boy and his brother.
They face life in prison. They haven’t been sentenced yet.
They have claimed that Colton, 9, ran away in 2006, and at the time, police agreed. Last year, however, the case was reopened and the couple was charged.
“It’s been an incredible journey. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought I would be standing here today in celebration,” said TJ Sloane, 23, Colton’s brother and key witness, KFOR reported.
Colton and Sloane, who then went by Homer, were sent to live with their aunt and uncle by the DHS.
He said, “No one ever reported it. [...] The fear’s tremendous, that’s the worst part. You wake up every day and you just have that pit in your stomach of... you’re just scared. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know what to expect. It just, you wake up and it’s like living in hell.”
“It is definitely a relief—a relief for the community, a relief for law enforcement who carried the guilt and the scars of the case ... and the regret for not being able to solve it back in 2006,” the district attorney said last week.
“We started on this 11 years ago. It was a horrible situation,” said Seminole Police Chief David Hanson, who was a county sheriff’s investigator on the case.
“For everybody here, we appreciate you and a lot of the people that are here today were out looking for him, for Colton, 11 years ago, and it’s a heartbreak that we didn’t find him. It’s a heartbreak that we still haven’t,” said Hanson.
“We’re innocent,” Rebecca Clark told news reporters as she left the court.
