DALLAS, April 2 (UPI) -- The parents of a missing 11-year-old Texas boy were in jail Monday, accused by authorities of starving him and then dumping his body.
The search for Johnathan Ramsey in Ellis County was called off Sunday due to bad weather conditions and rough terrain, police said, and more rain was expected, WFAA-TV, Dallas/Fort Worth, reported.
Detectives said they didn't know when the search would resume.
The boy's father, Aaron Ramsey, and his stepmother, Elizabeth Ramsey, were taken into custody for allegedly injuring the child. Police said they believed the couple starved the boy and then dumped his body in a field south of Ennis after he died.
The couple were being held in the Dallas County jail in lieu of $500,000 bond each.
Police were tipped off to the possible abuse when the boy's grandfather, Edward Ramsey, Aaron Ramsey's father, told them he feared for his grandson's safety.
He told investigators that whenever he tried to see his grandson his son would make excuses for him not to.
The couple allegedly admitted during questioning to giving the boy "military rations" -- bread, water, and sometimes milk -- as punishment.
Elizabeth Ramsey allegedly told investigators, that the boy's health "slowly deteriorated" and described him as "looking like one of the kids you see on the commercials from Africa."
"There are no words. You feel like a failure.You wish you would have tried harder, faster. Grandparents have no rights," said Starla Swanson, the boy's maternal grandparent.
