A New Jersey toddler was discovered to have been missing for three years during a welfare check and now her mother’s boyfriend is charged with murder.
A 29-year-old Perth Amboy man has been charged with killing the daughter of his girlfriend more than two years ago, and the mother who hid the crime for 3 years was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
The death was only recently discovered but authorities found the child’s remains in the basement of the alleged killer’s home, at 508 N Park Dr, in Perth Amboy.
On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, the Edison Police Department was contacted by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P), in order to conduct a welfare check of Monique Durham’s twin 5-year-old daughters.
As a result of communicating with the twins’ mother, Durham, local law enforcement referred the matter to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and a joint investigation was commenced.
The investigation revealed that one of the girls was missing and that no friends or family had seen that child since 2019.
As the investigation continued, it was learned that Monique Durham’s boyfriend, Matthew Chiles III, 29, of Perth Amboy, engaged in conduct resulting in the missing child’s death in 2019, and illegally disposed of the child’s remains.
Eyewitness News reported that the suspect’s son never stopped asking her mother and their father about his sister in a televised interview with another woman who had a son with Chiles.
“I actually called her once and I asked her, like where’s your other daughter and she basically told me like, she’s with a family member and why was I concerned about it and that was none of my concern,” said the mother of Chiles’ son.
“He would say that she’s adopted, but Monique would get mad at me…she just had a nasty attitude because I asked her where was she,” said Chiles’ son’s mother. “She was very upset and I don’t know why.”
“My son told me the last memory of my he has of his little sister was she was getting a spanking by her parents and after they spanked her they put her in the bed,” said the victim’s brother, who is Chiles’ son. “My son said he was looking through the door and she was unresponsive.”
“She’s been gone for like three years, and I didn’t see her,” the suspect’s son said. “And I just wanted to know where she was at because I missed her.”
The crime apparently happened in Perth Amboy.
Chiles has been charged with two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, one count of second-degree desecration of human remains and one count of first-degree murder.
Durham has been charged with two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and one count of third-degree theft.
Durham and Chiles are currently being housed at the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center pending a detention hearing.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Perth Amboy Police Department at (732) 442-4400, Edison Police Department at (732) 248-7400 or the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3927.