Child's Body Found In Abandoned Southern Illinois Home After Tip From Mother

CENTREVILLE, IL — A tip from a Las Vegas woman led investigators to the badly decomposed body of a child in the garage of an abandoned Southern Illinois home this week. Belleville police said the woman came forward on Tuesday, telling Las Vegas Metropolitan Police that the remains of her deceased child were inside a garage in the 7200 block of Russell Avenue in Centreville, a suburb south of St. Louis in St. Clair County, Illinois. Two other children, both in their early teens, were taken into protective custody after a search warrant was executed at a home in Las Vegas, police said. The woman told Las Vegas police her husband killed their 6-year-old daughter and later forced her into sex trafficking.

Belleville police are investigating the child's death as a homicide, saying they believe the child was killed in 2013. On Tuesday, they said the remains were in such an "an advanced state of decomposition" that the child's age, sex and cause of death would not be determined until an autopsy later this week.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Raymond Spencer said the woman came forward late Monday. After fleeing the home she shared with her husband, she went to a women's shelter, where she divulged "disturbing details," including the death of one of the couple's children prior to their arrival in Las Vegas, Spencer said.

The mother told police she moved to Nevada two years ago and was forced into prostitution by her husband, 34-year-old Jason Quate. She told police she and Quate had three children when they lived in Illinois, saying Quate killed the 6-year-old girl during a "physical altercation" and hid the body in a container at the Centreville home, Spencer said.

After hearing the disturbing allegations, Spencer said Las Vegas police began formulating a plan to rescue the two surviving children, both in their early teens. A search warrant was executed at Quate's home early Tuesday morning, and police located the children, who showed signs of abuse and neglect, including physical injuries, he said.

Spencer called the home a "very disturbing scene," saying it was clear the children had only limited contact with the outside world over the past two years. The woman told police she was kept in a bedroom and prohibited from communicating with the children, who were not allowed to leave the house or attend school. The children were placed in protective custody, Spencer said.

Quate was arrested on charges of sex trafficking of an adult and receiving/living off the earnings of a prostitute, police said. "Those charges could be modified because this is still an ongoing investigation locally," said Spencer, adding Las Vegas police are working in cooperation with authorities in Illinois.

Centreville police believe the 6-year-old girl was killed in nearby Belleville before the remains were dumped in the garage outside a boarded-up Centreville home, according to the Belleville News-Democrat. The child's remains were reportedly found wrapped in a blanket that also contained cat litter.

Belleville police did not name Quate but said a suspect has been identified in the child's killing and is incarcerated in Las Vegas on unrelated charges. "A team of Belleville Homicide Investigators will be traveling to Las Vegas to further the investigation," police said Tuesday.

Quate was being held on $23,000 bond in connection with the sex trafficking charges.

Spencer said the troubling details of the case have left even seasoned Las Vegas officers shaken.

"In my 19 years of law enforcement, this is one of the cases I will never forget," he said. "... It's going to be a long road ahead for both of these children."

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