Missing teenager’s body found

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — When Asthen Jackson’s mother reported him missing, police said the chances were slim that the 17-year-old Youngstown boy would be found alive.

On Saturday, Jackson’s family and friends found the teen dead behind a building on the corner of Jacobs Road and Kenyon Avenue.

Police were called after the body was found Saturday afternoon. Jackson’s body was taken by the Mahoning County coroner’s office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

April Jackson, the mother of the Parkwood Avenue teen, called police Monday to report his disappearance.

Jackson was last seen in the company of his mother’s ex-boyfriend and another person of interest, according to a police report.

Based on a police investigation, including the questioning of the two men, Detective John Kelty said earlier this week that there was “evidence to suggest a homicide.”

April Jackson received a telephone call after her son’s disappearance reportedly informing her she’d find her son’s body on the city’s East Side.

She asked police to search for her son, but Kelty said earlier this week that such a search couldn’t happen because it would take “thousands of people.”

April Jackson, who couldn’t be reached Saturday by The Vindicator, searched the city’s East Side with friends and family, and they found her son’s body.

No arrests were made as of Saturday in connection with the teen’s death.