Troy Khoeler, a 7-year-old boy, was found dead inside a top-loading washing machine on July 28 in his Spring, Texas, home after being reported missing by his parents at 5:20 a.m. KHOU 11 reported that the house, 4400 Rosegate Drive, was the site of a police investigation after the Harris County Sherriff’s Office Homicide Unit arrived after being alerted to the missing boy’s last whereabouts.
The alert read, “Now- Missing – 7-YEAR-OLD BOY – 4400 block of Rosegate Dr. Birnamwood Subdivision [Texas] – Troy Khoeler. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt & pants and has a small afro hairstyle. He has been missing for approximately 2-3 hours.”
NOW – MISSING 7 YEAR OLD BOY – 4400 block of Rosegate Dr. Birnamwood Subdivision – Troy Khoeler.
He was last seen wearing a blue shirt & pants, has a small afro hair style.
He has been missing for approximately 2-3 hours. pic.twitter.com/FyQ7vFYGME
— Mark Herman, Harris County Constable Precinct 4 (@Pct4Constable) July 28, 2022
The police’s initial search turned up Troy’s body in the washing machine in the family’s Texas home garage at around 7:20, several hours after the boy went missing.
Police officials said, “We don’t know what happened, but we intend to find out,” They continued, “Whether he was killed by the washing machine or killed and placed in it, we’re just so far from that. I can’t comment.”
Troy was found in the washing machine wearing the clothes he had on when he went missing. Investigators are awaiting an autopsy result to determine the cause of death.
Troy’s adoptive dad, Jermaine Thomas, shared the details about filing the missing person report. He explained that he had gotten home just before midnight the day before Troy was reported missing. Jermaine told investigators, “It’s just that I came home, I was fixin’ to walk in the door like right now. I don’t have my keys, but I put my keys to the door handle and then it just open. Anything else after that, I don’t know.”
The adoptive father of the seven-year-old boy whose body was found in the family’s washing machine, says his front door was unlocked, and his son was missing, when he got home last night. #KHOU11 ?: @RPhillipsKHOU pic.twitter.com/F1AqyZD6n8
— Matt Dougherty (@MattKHOU) July 29, 2022
According to the outlet, both parents were detained and questioned by the local police but were released without arrest. It’s been reported that Troy was a foster child before being adopted in 2019 and that “CPS does have a history with the family.”
No suspects have been formally named.
