Editor's note: This article has been updated to identify the people found Monday and to include information from Benton County Sheriff Eric Knox.
BENTON COUNTY — A missing father and his two young children were found dead Monday afternoon in Benton County.
The Green County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a Facebook post on Monday night that the three people found in Benton County were 40-year-old Darrell Peak, 3-year-old Mayson Peak and 4-year-old Kaiden Peak.
“It is with much sadness that the Greene County Sheriff’s Office announces a very tragic ending to the Missing Person’s investigation involving Darrell, Mayson and Kaiden Peak,” the post states. “This evening, the three were discovered deceased in Benton County, not far from where they were last observed and contacted by law enforcement in the Warsaw area, 16 hours prior to the missing persons report with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.”
Benton County Sheriff Eric Knox told the Democrat he couldn’t release the details of their deaths but confirmed it was a murder-suicide. He said the father and sons were found by powerline workers around 4:20 p.m. Monday. According to the Greene County post, the three bodies were “found together inside a structure.”
According to the Greene County post, Darrell, Mayson and Kaiden were last seen around 4 p.m. Feb. 25 near their family home in Greene County as Darrell drove away with the children, armed with the pistol he was known to regularly carry.
A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper in Benton County stopped to check on the family’s disabled vehicle around 5:30 p.m. Feb. 25, and Darrell refused assistance. Just 22 minutes later, a Benton County deputy observed a man and two children walking along U.S. Route 65. When she turned around to make contact, she was unable to locate them again. A trooper was dispatched to check on a man walking along the highway with two children around 7 p.m. Feb. 25, but he was unable to locate them when he arrived.
Family members filed a missing persons report with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 26, stating Darrell had a history of depression but they insisted he would never harm his children.
That afternoon, a statewide alert was sent out for Darrell, Mayson and Kaiden. Shortly after learning of the situation, MSHP troopers and Benton County deputies searched the areas where they were repeatedly observed Feb. 25.
On Feb. 28, the Green County Sheriff’s Office decided to charge Darrell with two counts of parental kidnapping “hoping that this would generate additional tips and leads.”
“When the trooper contacted them (Feb. 25) and my deputy, there was nothing about them being in distress, they were just a vehicle on side of the road,” Knox said. “... (The trooper) ran the vehicle through MULES, ran the father and he was clean, and he did not want assistance so the trooper left. There were no warrants, no BOLOs.
“My deputy comes along 10 minutes later, sees them up the road,” Knox continued. “She went past them and she’s traveling 65 mph and it was starting to get dark, so she goes up and over the crossover, glances over in the general area, goes down a mile and crosses over again. When she gets there, he’s gone.”
Knox said the deputy made a remark over the radio about the family going into the woods, but he said she was just making an assumption, as she didn’t actually see that happen.
“We didn’t know anything was going on,” Knox said. “We got a call later on from Greene County, they converged in the area, but didn’t come up with them (the family). It’s just a sad, sad mess that he could hurt his own children. My staff didn’t do anything wrong.”
Knox said law enforcement searched the area where the bodies were found Monday during their previous search and the family was not there.
“We don’t know where they were,” Knox said. “They weren’t there until very recently.”
Knox said he called in the MSHP Division of Drug and Crime Control to handle the death investigation since his office doesn’t have an investigative unit, noting “it was very apparent it was a murder-suicide, but we wanted the Troop to come look at that with something this important.”
The Sheriff’s Office requested the Division of Drug and Crime Control to assist with investigating the crime scene around 5:30 p.m. and MSHP investigators arrived shortly after 7 p.m., according to MSHP Sgt. Bell.
Knox said this sad ending is just the latest in a string of tragedies for Benton County. In December, four people were arrested in connection with abuse that resulted in the death of a 4-year-old girl. Just this weekend, volunteers organized a search for 47-year-old Echo Lloyd, who went missing May 10, 2020, from her Benton County home.
“It affects my staff, it affects me — this is my community,” Knox said. “To have stuff like that go on is just devastating for law enforcement. My kids live here, grandkids, my deputies’ kids go to school here. We take this stuff very seriously. … I take it personally because this is my home.”
BENTON COUNTY — A missing father and his two young children were found dead Monday afternoon in Benton County.
The Green County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a Facebook post on Monday night that the three people found in Benton County were 40-year-old Darrell Peak, 3-year-old Mayson Peak and 4-year-old Kaiden Peak.
“It is with much sadness that the Greene County Sheriff’s Office announces a very tragic ending to the Missing Person’s investigation involving Darrell, Mayson and Kaiden Peak,” the post states. “This evening, the three were discovered deceased in Benton County, not far from where they were last observed and contacted by law enforcement in the Warsaw area, 16 hours prior to the missing persons report with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.”
Benton County Sheriff Eric Knox told the Democrat he couldn’t release the details of their deaths but confirmed it was a murder-suicide. He said the father and sons were found by powerline workers around 4:20 p.m. Monday. According to the Greene County post, the three bodies were “found together inside a structure.”
According to the Greene County post, Darrell, Mayson and Kaiden were last seen around 4 p.m. Feb. 25 near their family home in Greene County as Darrell drove away with the children, armed with the pistol he was known to regularly carry.
A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper in Benton County stopped to check on the family’s disabled vehicle around 5:30 p.m. Feb. 25, and Darrell refused assistance. Just 22 minutes later, a Benton County deputy observed a man and two children walking along U.S. Route 65. When she turned around to make contact, she was unable to locate them again. A trooper was dispatched to check on a man walking along the highway with two children around 7 p.m. Feb. 25, but he was unable to locate them when he arrived.
Family members filed a missing persons report with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 26, stating Darrell had a history of depression but they insisted he would never harm his children.
That afternoon, a statewide alert was sent out for Darrell, Mayson and Kaiden. Shortly after learning of the situation, MSHP troopers and Benton County deputies searched the areas where they were repeatedly observed Feb. 25.
“When the trooper contacted them (Feb. 25) and my deputy, there was nothing about them being in distress, they were just a vehicle on side of the road,” Knox said. “... (The trooper) ran the vehicle through MULES, ran the father and he was clean, and he did not want assistance so the trooper left. There were no warrants, no BOLOs.
“My deputy comes along 10 minutes later, sees them up the road,” Knox continued. “She went past them and she’s traveling 65 mph and it was starting to get dark, so she goes up and over the crossover, glances over in the general area, goes down a mile and crosses over again. When she gets there, he’s gone.”
Knox said the deputy made a remark over the radio about the family going into the woods, but he said she was just making an assumption, as she didn’t actually see that happen.
“We didn’t know anything was going on,” Knox said. “We got a call later on from Greene County, they converged in the area, but didn’t come up with them (the family). It’s just a sad, sad mess that he could hurt his own children. My staff didn’t do anything wrong.”
Knox said law enforcement searched the area where the bodies were found Monday during their previous search and the family was not there.
“We don’t know where they were,” Knox said. “They weren’t there until very recently.”
Knox said he called in the MSHP Division of Drug and Crime Control to handle the death investigation since his office doesn’t have an investigative unit, noting “it was very apparent it was a murder-suicide, but we wanted the Troop to come look at that with something this important.”
The Sheriff’s Office requested the Division of Drug and Crime Control to assist with investigating the crime scene around 5:30 p.m. and MSHP investigators arrived shortly after 7 p.m., according to MSHP Sgt. Bell.
Knox said this sad ending is just the latest in a string of tragedies for Benton County. In December, four people were arrested in connection with abuse that resulted in the death of a 4-year-old girl. Just this weekend, volunteers organized a search for 47-year-old Echo Lloyd, who went missing May 10, 2020, from her Benton County home.
“It affects my staff, it affects me — this is my community,” Knox said. “To have stuff like that go on is just devastating for law enforcement. My kids live here, grandkids, my deputies’ kids go to school here. We take this stuff very seriously. … I take it personally because this is my home.”
