Woman Kept In Box Murdered: Missouri Woman Who Escaped Captivity Found Slain Alongside Her Son

A Missouri woman kept in a box was found murdered just three weeks after she escaped captivity. Sandra Kay Sutton, 46, and her son, Zachary Wade Sutton, 17, were found inside their Clinton home on Thursday. Both the woman kept in a box and her teen son were shot in the head.

The bodies of Sandra Kay Sutton and Zach Sutton were found by relatives when they returned home after work. Missouri police officers are still searching for the individual who kept the woman in a wooden box and committed the double murder. On April 30, Sutton told the police that her boyfriend, James B. Horn Jr., 47, had kept her locked in a wooden box inside their Sedalia, Missouri, home on a routine basis during the past four months.

James Horn Jr. was charged with kidnapping, unlawful use of a weapon, and armed criminal action, but was released from jail and has been at large ever since. Clinton police investigators suspected Horn in the murders of Sandra Sutton and her son. Sedalia is located approximately 45 miles from the home of the Missouri murder victims.

“He is a dangerous person, an extremely dangerous, violent person,” Clinton Police Lieutenant Sonny Lynch told the media.

Sandra Kay Sutton told the police that Horn forced her inside the wood box at knifepoint. She said that when Horn was not home, she was kept in the box. When he did return, he forced her to have sex with him.

Sandra Sutton told police that Horn had threatened her in a car with a tire jack after an argument the couple had in January. Horn then allegedly began building a wooden box and forced Sutton to help with its construction.

The wooden box Sutton was kept in was reportedly 100 inches long, 45 inches wide, and 52 inches tall. On Thursday, Clinton police found a vehicle that belonged to Sutton parked at a Sedalia hospital near where the woman was kept in a box.

Missouri Sate Highway Patrol officers raided the Horn house where the woman kept in a box had stayed before fleeing captivity. Horn was not found at his home or in any of the nearby abandoned properties.

Jame Horn Jr. is a registered sex offender stemming from convictions in Tennessee in 1993. Horn was later was convicted of kidnapping his estranged wife in Mississippi and served 10 years in federal prison, court records indicate.

Zachary Sutton was a student at Clinton High School.

“We are heartbroken over the tragic and senseless loss of Zach Sutton and his mother. Counselors are available at CHS,” a Facebook post from the Missouri school said.

Sonny Lynch also warned that Horn is an “extremely dangerous, violent person,” and noted anyone providing him aid who is aware of the charges levied against him could be facing legal action as well.

[Images via Shutterstock.com and Clinton Police Department]