More than 160 complaints have been made over the years about the home where a missing 12-year-old’s body was found, with at least three other bodies reportedly discovered there.
Jaylen Griffin’s body was found, decomposed, at the property on Sheffield Avenue in South Buffalo, New York, nearly four years after he vanished in August 2020.
The discovery wasn’t the first time police had been called out to the address, WIVB reports, with at least 160 police complaints since 2007.
Among those call-outs were three other bodies, including the most recent discovery in the yard of the house in August 2023, the outlet said.
The first body turned up following a welfare check in June 2020, reports said, with another reported in September 2022, which led to an arrest.
Domestic violence, fire and mental health welfare checks were also included in the list of 911 calls for the multi-unit property, the outlet reported.
Buffalo Police Department refused to comment to The Independent on the reports, referring instead to their previous press conference on the discovery of Jaylen’s body.
Police said then that someone was in the property with a valid reason and came across Jaylin’s body and immediately called 911. Officers would not say where in the home his body was found.
Meanwhile, a neighbour is suing the landlords – Sunrise West LLC – and Spectrum Health and Human Services, after a tenant reportedly threw pieces of a burnt mattress out of a window, which caused $130,000 of damage to their property.
Spectrum reportedly houses some “high-need, high-risk individuals” at homes around the city. The Independent has approached the organisation for further comment but is yet to receive a response.
Jaylen’s body was found on 12 April, a week before what would have been his 16th birthday.
Police said that they believed his body had been in the house for a “significant amount of time”, but they could not provide a timeframe.
His mother, Joann Ponzo, died in September 2023 without knowing what had happened to her son.
Buffalo PD is offering a $7,500 reward for information which leads to the arrest or indictment of those responsible for his death.