Funeral services will be held tomorrow (Saturday) in Harlan, for a five-year old Atlantic boy whose body was found August 31st in a ravine near Logan, in Harrison County. 17-year old Cody Metzker-Madsen has been charged with 1st degree murder in connection with the death of Dominic Lloyd Elkins. Metzker-Madsen is scheduled for his first court appearance on Monday.
Dominic’s mother, 24-year old Barbara Kunch, of Atlantic, told the Daily NonPareil that Dominic had behavior problems, but was getting better. Those problems eventually led to his placement in foster care and also a treatment program at Children’s Square U.S.A. in Council Bluffs. Staff at Children’s Square told Kunch that her son’s behavior was improving and that he reacted better to medications for his attention deficit disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and sleeping disorder.Dominic was placed in the Children’s Square treatment program in October 2012 and left in February of this year. He had lived with his foster parents near Logan for only three-weeks when the incident that led to his death occurred. Metzker-Madsen initially claimed he wasn’t responsible for the boy’s death, and that while he and Dominic were playing, the 5-year old hit both himself and Metzker-Madsen in the head with a brick before running off toward the ravine where his body was found face-down in a small stream. Authorities say the child had multiple injuries to his head and torso. An official autopsy result has not yet been released.
Funeral services for Dominic Elkins will be held on Saturday, September 7th at 1:00 pm in the Pauley-Jones Funeral Home in Harlan. Metzker-Madsen is being held in the Harrison County jail under a $500,000 bond, and will be tried as an adult. His preliminary hearing is scheduled 11 a.m. on Sept. 9 at the Harrison County courthouse.