Police had prepared case in 2016 against Jesse Wilson’s mom

Buckeye Police Department investigators were “inching” their way toward a no-body homicide case against Jesse Wilson’s mother five weeks after the boy went missing in 2016, according to a department email.

Police and the FBI began drafting a “to-do” list in the weeks after Crystal Wilson reported her 10-year-old son missing from their Buckeye home.

At the same time, Mark Mann, thenassistant police chief, said he was planning to use “contacts and influence” with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to “ensure we have the best prosecutor for the case” against Crystal Wilson, email records show.

Wilson, who now lives in the Atlanta area, has not been charged.

The new information became available after reviewed two emails that referenced the case. They were attached to an exhaustive and unrelated investigation into Mann’s alleged wrongdoing and hostility within the Buckeye Police Department.

Chief Larry Hall confirmed the goal had been to build a case against the boy’s adoptive mother weeks after she reported him missing July 18, 2016 — even without his remains.

“We as an agency determined we would like to move forward to at least attempting charging if this was possible without a body,” Hall told in an interview late Thursday.

Jesse’s absence dominated the news for several weeks that summer as lawenforcement officials and civilian volunteers searched for him.

The leading public theory since Jesse was reported missing was that the boy might have wandered from home, as he was known to do. Searchers combed fields and neighborhoods searching for any sign of him, to no avail.

A city street sweeper on March 8 discovered some of Jesse’s skeletal remains in a field near State Route 85 and Broadway Road. Though the boy’s skull was recovered, it has been unclear whether investigators are any closer to determining how he died.

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“We believe he was transported from one location and left there,” Hall told

on Thursday.

The case is being investigated as a homicide.

Police still aren’t calling Crystal Wilson a suspect, despite preparing a criminal case against her.

“We want to wait until we have absolutely everything together,” Hall said, adding that investigators are awaiting more details from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office and a “green light” from prosecutors before proceeding. “There’s quite a few things we need in order to make this happen.”

Police interviewed Crystal Wilson multiple times after the boy’s disappearance. She was notified of his remains being located, but they have not conducted a follow-up interview because “there’s no need to,” Hall said.

Wilson left Arizona just weeks before Jesse’s remains were recovered and is currently living near Atlanta, Georgia.

“It’s a very touchy situation right now,” Hall said.

Wilson, in the days after her son’s disappearance, said Jesse loved school and reading, and she described him as “a scholar” with “two left feet,” too uncoordinated to play sports.

Jesse had a brother and sister of similar age. After his disappearance, they were removed from Crystal Wilson’s home and placed in foster care, where they remained as of March 27.

Amanda Jacinto, spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, declined to comment about the case since police have not yet made a formal charging submittal.

Jill McCabe, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said the bureau was “providing assistance as we have done in the past and will continue to do in the future.”

Mann, whose 2016 email spurred the confirmation of new details, declined further comment Thursday.

Police encourage anyone with potentially credible information about the case to call the Buckeye Police Department at 623-349-6411 or email bpdtips@buckeyeaz.gov.

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