Lacey man charged with murder in death of 3-year-old son

LACEY -- A 38-year-old Lacey man was charged with murder Tuesday in Montana in the death of his 3-year-old son, whose body was found earlier in the day near Anaconda, Mont. The boy's mother in Lacey said her husband had driven off with the boy Monday.

Bail was set in Anaconda, Mont., at $250,000 for Jeremy Brent Cramer.

The Lacey Police Department was contacted Monday by the boy's mother, Natalie Cramer, who told them her husband had taken their son, Brody Cramer, from their home.

She also told police her husband was not answering his cell phone or responding to text messages and that he had used his fuel credit card in Moses Lake earlier on Monday.

Lacey police then requested an alert for the man and boy in Eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana in an attempt to locate the husband's vehicle.

About 10:30 p.m. Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Mont., officers were asked to respond to a convenience store after a clerk reported seeing a man attempting to wash blood off himself and his clothes in the restroom. Police later determined that Cramer, 38, had left with his son from Lacey in what appeared to be a custodial dispute.

About 11:20 p.m., Cramer was found by police about five miles outside of Anaconda, which is approximately 25 miles northwest of Butte, Mont. When Cramer was found, the boy was not with him.

Tuesday morning, when police resumed their search for the child, they found the boy dead.

Cramer was taken into custody in Montana on unrelated misdemeanor charges, the county attorney's office said. Prosecutors later filed murder charges against Cramer.