Three suspects in the Jacob Caldwell disappearance case appear in court

MIAMISBURG — UPDATE @ 4:01 p.m.:

Three people accused of helping Jacob Caldwell hide after he witnessed his father’s murder were in a Miamisburg court for a hearing today.

Donald Bell, Jo Anne Henderson and Zacheriah Henderson are each facing an interference with custody charge.

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Their defense attorneys met with the prosecutor behind closed doors today.

The trio’s next court date has not been set yet, but if convicted as charged, they face as much as six months in jail.

UPDATE @ 2:18 p.m.:

A pretrial hearing for three adults who were in the home where Jacob Caldwell was found has started.

The hearing for Donald Bell, 48, Jo Anne Henderson, 52, and Zacheriah Henderson, 23, is being held behind closed doors in Miamisburg Municipal Court.

A disposition date may be set during the hearing, said a court official.

We will continue to update this story as more information is available.

INITIAL REPORT:

The three adults who were in the home where missing teen Jacob Caldwell was found in August are scheduled to appear in Miamisburg Municipal Court  for a second pretrial hearing this afternoon.

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Donald Bell, 48, Jo Anne Henderson, 52, and Zacheriah Henderson, 23, all are charged with first-degree misdemeanor.

Caldwell disappeared shortly after he and his two brothers saw their father, Robert, shot to death in Riverside on Aug. 15, 2017. Caldwell’s legal guardian at the time was his paternal grandmother.

The teen was located Aug. 28, 2018 — matching the date of the offense against the defendants in court records — at a home on Spring Valley Pike in Miami Twp. He’d been missing for about a year.

The court documents indicate that all three did “knowingly keep … a child under the age of 18 … at the residence for three months” and that the defendants were “aware that he was wanted by law enforcement as a missing child.”

In Greene County Juvenile Court proceedings, Caldwell was found to be delinquent for multiple incidents of running away. A judge ruled the teen should remain in custody at a facility where he can get treatment and counseling.

Six defendants have been charged federally in what prosecutors call a conspiracy to kill Robert “Bobby” Caldwell, 35, of Beavercreek.

Sterling Roberts is alleged to have pulled the trigger. Roberts and Tawnney Caldwell (Bobby’s ex-wife) face the death penalty if convicted on all charges filed in Dayton’s U.S. District Court.