Medical examiner IDs remains of Cleveland boy found in bag behind vacant home

CLEVELAND -- A medical examiner has identified the remains found in a bag in the backyard of a vacant Cleveland home last year as those of as 4-year-old Eliazar Ruiz.

After the unidentified remains were discovered by landscapers Sept. 17, investigators looked at local missing person cases and developed a composite sketch and released it to the public. Police say a tip this month helped authorities identify the remains. DNA tests confirmed they are Eliazar's.  

Cleveland.com reports authorities said Wednesday that no missing person report had been filed for the boy. No criminal charges have been filed in his death. Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson hasn't released a cause of death, but previously said the death appears "extremely suspicious."

Ruiz's mother spoke to Cleveland.com in a telephone interview from Northeast Reintegration Center in Cleveland, where she is serving an 18-month sentence on drug-related offenses.

Ashley Makuhan, 27, reportedly told the website that her son had been cared for by his godmother since 2015. A cousin told the website that Makuhan allowed the family friend to take her son after getting in trouble with the law.

Eliazar's grandmother, Dawn Battle, told CBS affiliate WOIO that the boy went missing in July 2016, but no missing person report was filed because Makuhan, the boy's father Ruben Ruiz, and Battle thought the godmother had taken Eliazar out of the state and they just couldn't get a hold of him. She described the godmother as a young woman with three children of her own.

Nearly one year later, in June 2017, Battle reportedly said she called the Second District Police to report the boy missing and was told she could not because she wasn't a custodial parent or legal guardian. 

"Maybe he would be alive if they would have let me report him missing in June," said Battle.

Earlier this month, Battle said Makuhan saw the sketch on television while jailed at a state facility.

"She woke up that morning and turned on the news, saw the sketch and told officers that might be him so she told the officer and they took DNA," Battle told the station. 

About a week later she found out it was positive.

"My son was an amazing kid," Makuhan said. "He was always so happy. I can't wait until the person involved in this is brought to justice."  

Makuhan has reportedly been cooperating with the investigation.