NEW BOSTON, Texas -- A father arrested last week after skeletal remains were found on his kitchen floor allegedly told police he didn't call authorities when his son died in 2018 because he didn't have a phone.
David McMichael, 67, was arrested March 29 on a charge of abuse of a corpse involving his son, Jason McMichael.
The elder McMichael allegedly told officers with New Boston Police Department that his son "always slept on a pallet in the kitchen floor and one morning in May of 2018 he awoke and found his son deceased," according to a probable cause affidavit.
Officers were dispatched to David McMichael's residence in the 1200 block of South Merrill Street on March 29 for a welfare check initiated by a family member. When asked if he knew why police were at his home, McMichael allegedly led them to the skeletal remains in his kitchen.
McMichael allegedly told officers he didn't report his son's death because he didn't have a phone. When asked why he didn't borrow a neighbor's phone, McMichael allegedly said he does not know his neighbors.
Online obituary records list Jason McMichael's birth date as Aug. 1, 1977. He would have been 40 in May 2018.
Police spokeswoman Katie Jiminez said autopsy and DNA reports are not expected for weeks.
David McMichael is being held in the Bowie County jail with bail set at $50,000. If convicted of abuse of a corpse, he faces six months to two years in a state jail.