James Robert Hutchinson’s Disappearance
In February 2021, James Robert Hutchinson lived in Middletown, Ohio. His mother, Brittany L. Gosney, and her boyfriend, James Russell Hamilton, went to the police station on February 28, 2021, the morning after they said he went missing, to report him missing. The couple gave different stories about what happened when he went missing, but they eventually admitted that he was dead.
Gosney said she took James and his older brother and sister, who were 7 and 9 at the time, to the Rush Run Nature Preserve in Preble County, Ohio, after 3 a.m., with the plan of leaving them there. James tried to get back in the car after she dropped them off, but she drove away while he held on to the door handle.
When Gosney went back to the area 30 or 40 minutes later, she found James dead in the parking lot from a blow to the head. She brought his body and the bodies of the other two children back to their Middletown home on Crawford Street. Gosney and Hamilton put James’s body in the car on February 27 while the children were sleeping. They tied it to a cinder block, drove to the Ohio River, and threw it off the I-275 bridge near Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
Gosney was charged with murder, putting a child in danger, kidnapping, abusing a dead body in a gross way, and tampering with evidence. Hamilton was charged with kidnapping, putting a child in danger, abusing a dead body in a gross way, and tampering with evidence. He was not there when the child died. There are pictures of them with this summary of the case.
Gosney told the police that Hamilton hurt all three of Gosney’s kids. Hamilton said that he would hog-tie the kids, put cloth over their mouths, and leave them like that for hours. Gosney said that Hamilton said he wanted to get rid of the kids by leaving them at the nature preserve so that coyotes would eat them. She said she offered to drop the kids off at a firehouse instead, but Hamilton didn’t like that idea, so she took the kids to the nature preserve on her own.
In August 2021, Hamilton admitted to kidnapping, abusing a dead body badly, and putting two children in danger. He was given the longest possible prison sentence of 19 years, with the chance to get out after 15 years. Gosney pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including murder, and was sentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole after 21 years.
James Robert Hutchinson has not been found after a lot of searching in the Ohio River. Because of the circumstances, it is likely that he was killed by someone. At the time he was thought to have been killed, he was in the first grade at Rosa Parks Elementary School.
Appearance
Clothing/Jewelry Description A red shirt and blue and red Batman pajama bottoms.
Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Red hair, blue eyes.
Investigating Agency
- Middletown Division of Police 513-425-7700