Trent Fouts
Real Name: Trent Stephen Fouts
Aliases: Trent Fouts
Wanted For: Murder
Missing Since: January 10, 1997
Joshua Massengill
Case[]
Details: Thirty-three-year-old Trent Stephen Fouts is a pedophile wanted for the abduction and murder of twenty-month-old Joshua Troy Massengill. Joshua was the son of Jenise Massengill, whom Fouts had befriended at a church group meeting in Santa Ana, California. She had no idea that Fouts had an extensive criminal history.
On the evening of January 9, 1997, Fouts picked up Joshua from his babysitter's house. However, he never brought Joshua back home. The next day, Joshua's body was found leaning against a wall of a local convalescent hospital. He had been sexually assaulted, suffered from severe acid burns, and was beaten to death by Fouts. Fouts vanished soon afterwards.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired as a Special Bulletin on the April 25, 1997 episode.
- It was excluded from the FilmRise release of the series.
Results: Captured. On the night of the broadcast, several viewers in Albuquerque, New Mexico called the telecenter. They all reported that Fouts was living at an apartment building in Albuquerque. Police arrested him at his apartment; at the time, he was working in construction. Incredibly, Unsolved Mysteries was still on the air when he was taken into custody.
Fouts was the 150th fugitive arrested as a result of tips to Unsolved Mysteries. Three days after the arrest, Fouts waved extradition and was returned to California. At his trial, he claimed that Joshua's death was accidental, a result of neglect during his "drug-induced haze". He was later convicted of Joshua's murder and sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison. He will have a parole suitability hearing in May of 2019.
Links:
- Trent Fouts on Unsolved Archive
- Bruised Body of Toddler Discovered - January 12, 1997
- Man sought in death of toddler - January 13, 1997
- A search for her son's killer - February 17, 1997
- Suspect in Toddler's Slaying Arrested - April 27, 1997
- Slain Boy's Mother Anxious for Justice - April 28, 1997
- TV picture of fugitive matches bartender's customer - April 29, 1997
- Man Charged in Boy's Death - May 1, 1997
- Court hears versions of boy's last hours - February 10, 2000
- Toddler's Murderer Gets 25 Years to Life - June 3, 2003
- Trent Fouts Inmate Information
- Joshua Massengill at Find a Grave