Boy’s Body Found In Crawl Space

FBI agents on Sunday found the body of a missing 11-year-old Vancouver boy hidden in a crawl space of a next-door neighbor’s house.

Travis Richards, 16, who lives in the house, was arrested and booked into Clark County Jail for investigation of first-degree homicide.

Vancouver police removed the body of Joshua Allen Nelson after obtaining a search warrant for the home. Police searched the home for about four hours Sunday night and will resume Monday morning.

An autopsy was performed Sunday night. Results weren’t immediately available.

Nelson, a fifth-grader at Hough School, disappeared Wednesday night from his front yard. He had been playing with his 13-year-old brother, Heath, when Heath went to buy ice cream. When Heath returned, his brother was gone.

The FBI entered the case Saturday after the boy had been missing for 48 hours, and two agents began doing consensual searches of nearby houses, Lt. Rex Woodward said.

Richards’ father allowed FBI agents to search the house.

Richards was home when the body was found, and was quickly arrested, Woodward said.

Detectives are investigating the boys’ relationship, Woodward said. He wouldn’t say what evidence authorities had against the teen. xxxx