Missing Philadelphia Toddler, King Hill, Presumed Dead

We have a tragic development in a story that the Philadelphia area had been watching closely for much of July:

Missing 2-year-old King Hill is believed to be dead, his family told CBS 3 and 6 ABC late Sunday. The 2-year-old boy had been missing since July 7, sparking a massive search effort throughout the city.

King’s family told 6 ABC tonight that authorities came to their home in Strawberry Mansion today to inform them that they believe King is dead. The authorities also told King’s family that an arrest is pending, but officials said the boy's body had not been located yet.

“We don’t even know where his body is, he’s just out there laying somewhere, King’s grandmother, Kimberly Hill told CBS 3. “We don’t know, and they said that we might never recover his body. Whatever they told her, my daughter did not want to hear no more.”

King was first reported missing on Tuesday, July 7 by his stepfather. He told investigators that a babysitter dropped the boy off to his mother’s home — located in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia.

The boy's babysitter told the police that she returned the child to his mother. King's mother, Amber Hill, said that never happened, and at the time she believed the boy was still in the care of his stepfather.

King’s mother, Amber Hill, spoke with a reporter from CBS 3 tonight as well to grieve the death of her son.

“I can’t even get his body. Whatever she was doing to him, I can’t even get his body. It’s messing my whole family up. I just feel like this whole investigation was too long. I think they should have been incarcerated her,” Amber Hill told CBS 3. 

Police have not publicly identified the suspect, but King's grandmother tells CBS 3 that the suspect is an acquaintance of the boy's stepfather.

“I blame myself for even trusting my baby’s father with my son. I thought he was in good hands and he gave him to this woman, this woman I don’t know, that he knows. And now my son is deceased," Hill said during an emotional interview with CBS 3.

King Hill would have celebrated his 3rd birthday in 10 days.