The Latest: Arkansas toddler found dead, 2nd child missing

By: Stephanie Staudinger

Posted: Apr 28, 2017 4:55 PM CDT | Updated: May 1, 2017 11:19 AM CDT

UPDATE:

12:34 AM

(CBS NEWS) POLK COUNTY, Ark. -- The body of 9-year-old Arkansas boy has been found in a heavily wooded area, one day after the body of his two-year-old sister was found, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

The children's mother and another relative were found dead earlier in the week.

The children, Reilly James Scarbrough, and Acelynn Wester, were reported missing on Saturday, April 22. Acelynn's body was found in a heavily wooded area in the same vicinity where her mother, 43-year-old Bethany Jo Wester was found dead, CBS affiliate KTHV reports.

Police also found the body of Wester's uncle, 66-year-old Steven Payne inside of a home in a nearby town on Thursday.

Police said they found Reilly's body with the help of a man who is currently in the Polk County Detention Center on unrelated charges, KTHV reports. They expect to charge him with capital murder, KTHV reports.

On Friday, Polk County Sheriff Scott Sawyer said they were still hoping to find Reilly alive.

UPDATE:

6:15 PM

Investigators say one of two Arkansas children reported missing after their mother's body was found in a creek has been found dead, and teams are still searching for the other child.

Polk County Sheriff Scott Sawyer says the body of 2-year-old Acelynn Wester was found in a heavily wooded area Friday near the town of Cove, not far from where her mother's body was located earlier this week.

The children's great-uncle was found dead Thursday at his home in a nearby town.

The deaths are being investigated as homicides.

Sawyer says the girl's 9-year-old brother, Reilly Scarbrough, is still missing. The sheriff says officers from eight agencies are searching for him.

The children hadn't been seen since at least Sunday.

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ORIGINAL:

POLK COUNTY, Ark. – Police are asking for the public's help two find two missing children after their mother was found dead, reports CBS affiliate KSLA.

Reilly James Scarbrough, 10, and Acelynn Carrie Wester, 2, were reportedly last seen April 22.

KSLA reports that on the afternoon of April 25, someone reported seeing a suspicious object in Buffalo Creek southeast of Cove, Arkansas. That led the the discovery of a body that since has been identified as the children's mother, 43-year-old Bethany Jo Wester, of Mena, Arkansas.

Information about the cause of her death has yet to be released, but her death is being investigated as a homicide.

On Thursday, police reportedly found the body of another family member of the missing children. Police say the man was found inside a house in Hatfield and they are investigating whether the two deaths are related to the children's disappearance.

Authorities urge anyone with any information to immediately call the Polk County Sheriff's Office at (479) 394-2511.