Local
Norman father and 4-year-old son found dead in Gainesville, Texas
Caleb Furley and his son, Andres “Harry” Furley, were found dead Wednesday in Gainesville, Texas, after an Amber Alert was issued for them the previous evening. Authorities have not announced a cause of death, and the investigation remains active.
A Norman father and his 4-year-old son were found dead Wednesday in Gainesville, Texas, after an Amber Alert triggered a search across state lines, police said.
The child, Andres “Harry” Furley, and his father, Caleb Furley, had been reported missing after the boy’s mother went to pick him up at Furley’s Norman apartment and found neither of them there. Norman police said both were later found deceased. The medical examiner is expected to make positive identifications; authorities have not released a cause of death.
Court documents filed in Cleveland County say the parents had separated about a year earlier and had an informal arrangement for Furley to care for the child on weekends while the mother worked. After she could not reach them, she contacted police.
Family members told investigators they were concerned about Furley’s behavior and mental health in recent months. According to an arrest-warrant affidavit, his former partner described him as increasingly paranoid, and relatives said he had stopped attending counseling appointments several weeks earlier.
During the search, investigators found Furley’s cellphone near a bridge at Lake Thunderbird. Traffic-camera footage showed his truck in Noble, Oklahoma, and later in Cooke County, Texas, on Monday, Oct. 12. Norman police first issued an endangered-person alert, then obtained an arrest warrant on a complaint of child stealing, prompting the Amber Alert Tuesday evening.
Gainesville police said a relative called early Wednesday after learning the pair had been seen at a local business Monday afternoon. The business had also contacted police about a suspicious adult man accompanied by a child. Officers were unable to locate them when they initially responded. On Wednesday morning, investigators returned to review surveillance footage, which appeared to show the man and child walking away from the business. During the search, an investigator found a deceased man and a small child.
Norman Police Capt. Lee McWhorter expressed condolences to the family and said the case was difficult for everyone involved in Oklahoma and Texas. The investigation is ongoing. Gainesville police asked anyone with information to call 940-668-7777; anonymous tips can be submitted to the Crimes Tip Hotline at 940-612-0000.