Note slipped to teacher leads officers to a dead child and a woman being held against her will

Las Vegas, Nevada: Yesterday an as of yet unidentified woman gave her elementary-school-age daughter a note and instructed her to give it to her teacher.

That note informed the teacher that the woman was being held against her will.

The teacher contacted the police and shortly thereafter, police established surveillance at the residence.

Around 10:00 am yesterday morning officers observed 35-year-old Brandon L. Toseland and the woman get into a vehicle and depart. Officers then initiated a traffic stop.

The woman told police that she had not seen her pre-school-age child alive since December 11 and was concerned that he was likely dead. She also told officers that her boyfriend had barred her from going into the garage.

Homicide detectives took over the investigation and returned to the residence at about 4:30 yesterday evening.

Officers soon located the body of a young boy in a freezer in the garage. Initial reports indicate that the boy likely died in December, but the official cause of death has not been stated.

Toseland has been booked into the Clark County Detention Center on two counts of kidnapping, but Lt. Ray Spencer of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Department stated that a charge of open murder will be filed.

Toseland made his first appearance in court this morning for the kidnapping charges. His next court date has not yet been updated in the jail records.

At this time the woman, mother of both the deceased child and the child that took the note to school is not facing any charges.

Toseland had no relation to either of the children.

Spencer took an opportunity while speaking to the press last night to state that this kind of "tragic situation" should never come to pass and was completely avoidable.

He stated, "Anybody who is going through situations where you feel that you cannot handle a child, you can bring that child to a hospital, you can bring that child to a fire station, you can call 2-1-1. There are a lot of resources out there."