The body of 4-year-old Carnel Chamberlain, who had been missing since June 21, was found under the porch of his home on a mid-Michigan Indian reservation Thursday, a family spokesperson says. Dennis Kequom, chief of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, spoke to hundreds of people gathered Thursday night at a vigil for Carnel at the reservation in Isabella County, 70 miles north of Lansing. Family spokesman Kevin Chamberlain said the child's body was found earlier in the day under a wood porch or deck at the home where he lived with his mother and her boyfriend.
Anthony Bennett, 20, was charged Friday with assaulting Carnel, the son of Bennett's girlfriend Jaimee Chamberlain. Although not charged in Carnel's death, Bennett faces a federal criminal complaint of reportedly physically abused the child in late May or early June.
Bennett is charged in assault resulting in substantial bodily harm. He was expected to face court in Bay City.
Carnel Chamberlain seen here in an undated picture.
Photos of 4-year-old Carnel Chamberlain, from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, hang at the tribal operations building Friday, June 22, 2012.
Jaimee Chamberlain, center, holds a candle and stands with friends and family Thursday, June 28, 2012 during a vigil to remember her four-year-old son Carnel in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Kateri Walker stands next to her aunt Theresa Walker-Rubin during a candlelight vigil for Carnel Chamberlain Thursday, June 28, 2012 in Mount Pleasnat, Mich. Chamberlain's body was found under a porch at his home Thursday after a week-long search.
A Michigan State Police dog handler and his dog search the property at 7340 East Tomah Road in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Thursday, June 28 2012, where the body of Carnel Chamberlain was reportedly found sometime earlier in the day.
A Michigan State Police dog handler and his dog search the property at 7340 East Tomah Road in Mount Pleasant, Mich. on Thursday, June 28 2012, where the body of Carnel Chamberlain was reportedly found sometime earlier in the day.
A Michigan State Police dog handler and his dog search the property at 7340 East Tomah Road in Mount Pleasant, Mich. on Thursday, June 28 2012, where the body of Carnel Chamberlain was reportedly found sometime earlier in the day.
Investigators search the backyard at 7340 East Tomah Road in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Thursday, June 28 2012 where the body of four-year-old Carnel Chamberlain, missing since June 21, 2012 was reportedly found earlier in the day.