Oklahoma man suspected in murder of boy, 2, found dead in wildlife refuge after 3-day manhunt

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A dragnet for an Oklahoma man wanted for the murder of a 2-year-old boy ended over the weekend after police said authorities located the suspect’s dead body in a wildlife refuge.

The body of 38-year-old Christopher James Trent was discovered Saturday in the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge after nearly three days of tracking the suspect, the Norman Police Department wrote in an update on Facebook.

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Police have yet to release details on how Trent died.

The search for Trent began after police responded to a home early Wednesday to conduct a welfare check on a 2-year-old boy, whom officials have not named, according to a police news release.

Police determined Trent was the live-in boyfriend of the child's mother. (Norman Police Department)

Officers found the boy unresponsive and rushed him to a hospital, where medical staff discovered signs of possible child abuse and physical trauma. The boy was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

An investigation uncovered that the boy had been in the care of his mother’s live-in boyfriend, whom police identified as Trent. Police said Trent was not at the home when officers arrived for the welfare check.

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Police filed an arrest warrant against Trent for first-degree murder on Thursday after having already launched a ground and air search for the suspect. While Trent remained at-large, his car was found in Medicine Park at the refuge.

The manhunt forced part of the wildlife refuge to close to visitors, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a news release. It was unclear when the refuge would reopen.

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By the time Trent’s remains were located, agents from 13 different federal and local law enforcement agencies had become involved in the search, including the U.S. Marshals and FBI.