LUNENBURG COUNTY, Va. -- Tiffany Baker made a move to relocate her teenage son, Cion Carroll, to a relative's house in Lunenburg County after he got into some legal trouble in Henrico County.
Baker told CBS 6 Crime Insider Jon Burkett and the Reopen the Case Foundation that she believed the move 80 miles southwest of Richmond was a necessary change of pace for her son's safety.
The mother of three added that she never thought her plan would backfire so badly, nor did she know that she and her family would suffer such unimaginable grief.
"When you have several kids, you never would expect to have to live without one, I miss everything about him (Cion)," Baker cried.
On November 1, 2022, Cion Carroll had an argument with his grandmother about jackets he would leave piled on the floor.
Carroll apologized to his grandmother but then disappeared from her Kenbridge home in the early morning hours of November 2.
"His grandmother thought he was just going to the backyard," said Baker. "He never came back."
In the days that followed, Carroll's family from metro Richmond would walk the town, talking to people and handing out fliers about their missing loved one.
Carroll's mother was extremely concerned because the teenager's ' phone (which only worked on WiFi) pinged at a tier-three sex offender's residence on Poorhouse Road.
His mom and other family members approached people who lived at that address, but those people denied the phone was there.
Carroll's grandfather, Junius Carter called that a red flag.
The case was being handled by the Kenbridge town police. A department comprised of Chief Ben Barnes and a handful of supporting officers.
When CBS 6 first filed a report, Barnes told Crime Insider Jon Burkett that he didn't have time to comment on the case because he was out actively searching for Carroll.
Days later, on November 12, 2022, Chief Barnes found Cion Carroll's body in a shallow grave along the 200 block of Seay Way.
Cion Carroll was dismembered, shot, and covered with lye and a small amount of concrete mix.
"Nobody deserves to be left like that," Carter said.
Chief Barnes' discovery led to the homicide investigation being turned over to Special Agent Kevin George with the Virginia State Police.
"This was unique and like nothing I've seen before in my time with the state police working homicide cases," George told the Reopen the Case Foundation. "Chief Barnes at the time told me he had a feeling, so I deem it by the grace of God he happened to be in the 200 block of Seay Way and came upon it in this area."
Months after Cion's body was found, as state police continued to look for information in the case, Chief Barnes resigned from the police department.
Town Manager Tony Matthews told the Reopen the Case Foundation that Chief Barnes resigned in a letter addressed to the Town Council.
His resignation was officially accepted on January 12, 2023.
Matthews said Barnes did not state a reason in his resignation letter.
The investigation of Cion's murder remains active and open.
If you have information that can help move the investigation along, reach out to Reopen the Case at 833 RTCFNVA or email at tips@reopenthecase.org.
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