The body of Jaylen Griffin, the Buffalo youth who went missing almost four years ago, was found Friday morning in what police announced Monday has become a homicide investigation.
Joann Ponzo, the mother of Jaylen Griffin, died Sept. 18 at Sisters Hospital after her health rapidly deteriorated. She was 48.
The remains, found in a house on the 100 block of Sheffield Avenue in South Buffalo, had been in the home for a “significant amount of time,” Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said during an afternoon press conference.
The Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office, which confirmed Jaylen’s identity Monday through dental records, ruled his death a homicide, acting District Attorney Michael Keane said.
“The medical examiner will do a thorough and complete investigation, which will include an autopsy, that … we expect it will take months,” Keane said. “Hopefully, that will reveal to us some forensic evidence that will be significant in the investigation.”
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Gramaglia and Keane declined to share many specific details, citing the open homicide investigation.
Jaylen was last seen Aug. 4, 2020, after leaving his home on Warren Avenue near the Central Terminal for a convenience store. He was 12 at the time.
His body was found 44 months and 4.5 miles away.
The search for the missing child continued over the years, including with search parties, flyers and even a billboard.
His older brother, 18-year-old Jawaan Griffin, was shot and killed on Memorial Drive three months after Jaylen went missing. His 48-year-old mother, Joann Ponzo, died in September, without knowing what happened to her younger son.
The search for Jaylen Griffin had continued since he went missing in August 2020.
In August, Buffalo police said Jaylen’s case remained open. The department recently used cadaver dogs to aid in the investigation.
Gramaglia said the “exhaustive” efforts by the police department’s special victims unit will help the District Attorney’s homicide squad in what is now a joint investigation. He credited the community, too, for persisting with the case.
“There’s a host of organizations and groups and people that have been diligently searching for over 3½ years to find Jaylen, and unfortunately the result is not what we wanted,” Gramaglia said.
Officials shed little light on the manner in which Griffin’s body was found. Gramaglia said that the person who found Jaylen was not a resident in the “multiple unit dwelling.”
“It’s an occupied structure that somebody was in the house with a valid reason and came across [the body]. We’re not going to get into where inside the house the body was located,” the commissioner said.
Jaylen’s 16th birthday would have been April 22. Kareema Morris, founder of Bury the Violence, an organization that works with families with missing children, said at the news conference that scheduled plans for Jaylen’s birthday party at 6 p.m. that day will now become a memorial vigil at Paderewski Circle on Memorial Drive. Family members and friends previously recognized his life milestones in that site while he was missing.
Gramaglia called the latest developments “nothing short of tragic.”
“I want Jaylen’s family to know,” he said, “that we will continue to work diligently to bring the next closure for the family.”
Crime Stoppers WNY is offering a reward of up to $7,500 for information in this case. Tips can be reported anonymously by calling 716-867-6161 or online at http://crimestopperswny.org.
Family members and supporters call attention to Jaylen Griffin, missing since, August 2020, that today is his 14th birthday and there is still hope of finding the boy. Sharing thoughts are Pastor Tim Newkirk of GYC Ministries as well as Jaylen’s father Brian standing with his other son Dennell.
Reach Aaron at abesecker[at]buffnews.com or 716-849-4602.