Heartbreaking Discovery on Side of Massachusetts Highway

WORCESTER, Mass. (TheBlaze/AP) — The body of a small boy apparently cast off the side of a highway in Massachusetts has been confirmed as a missing 5-year-old.

Image source: WBZ-TV

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. says the body found Friday off Interstate 190 in Sterling has been positively identified as Jeremiah Oliver.

The Fitchburg boy was missing for months before police learned of his disappearance.

Jeremiah's case has led to criminal charges against his mother and her boyfriend and calls for changes within the state's child welfare agency.

Image source: WBZ-TV

Three Massachusetts child welfare workers have been fired, Boston's WCVB reported in the clip below, after it was discovered a case worker had missed monthly appointments with the boy since last April.

More from WCVB:

Early said the body was found in "a wrapped condition, somewhat concealed from the elements."

He said the body was clothed, "wrapped in a blanket-type object" and put in a suitcase. An autopsy is still not complete.

Many are in disbelief that this could happen to anyone, let alone a child.

"It's just sad that anybody could do that to such an innocent kid," David Gonzalez said.

The following news report ran just before the body was positively identified: