Jayden Spicer Case
Jayden Spicer Case
August 5, 2025. Jayden Spicer, age 10, was last seen at his home on Panbowl Branch Road near Jackson in Breathitt County, Kentucky. He was reported missing the following morning after being put to bed the previous night.
MISSING JAYDEN SPICER TIMELINE
Timeline: Key Events in the Jayden Spicer Case
August 5, 2025. Jayden Spicer, age 10, was last seen at his home on Panbowl Branch Road near Jackson in Breathitt County, Kentucky. He was reported missing the following morning after being put to bed the previous night. 2014 to 2024: Early Life of Jayden Spicer
- October 4, 2014, Jayden Spicer is born.
- Raised primarily by his great-grandmother Shirley Johnson, known as “Mama,” in Breathitt County, Kentucky, due to his mother Felicia Gross’s struggles with substance abuse, arrests, and instability.
- Felicia accrues multiple charges over the years, including drug possession, firearms violations, child endangerment, and wanton endangerment. She spent about three years incarcerated.
- CPS monitors the family for years while Jayden and siblings Mia and Elias live under Shirley’s care.
- May 20, 2025, Shirley Johnson dies at age 73 in hospice care.
- Aunt Samantha Brunty briefly takes in Jayden, Mia, and Elias.
- Mia remains with Samantha long-term; Elias’s placement is unclear.
- Jayden is eventually placed back with Felicia and her husband, Josh Gross, under CPS’s reunification plan.
- Jayden moves into a crowded single-wide trailer with Felicia, Josh, and their three younger sons, Hunter, River, and Fiser.
- This was Jayden’s first time living full-time with Felicia, a major adjustment after the death of his primary caregiver, his great-grandmother Shirley.
- 9:00 PM: Jayden Spicer, age 10, was last seen at his home on Panbowl Branch Road near Jackson in Breathitt County, Kentucky.
- 9:00 AM: Jayden’s mother, Felicia Gross, discovered he was missing. A neighbor reported she knocked on their door around 9:00 a.m., distressed and asking to use their phone to call 911. Source
- 9:23 AM: Kentucky State Police Post 13 in Hazard received a 911 call regarding a missing juvenile in the Panbowl Branch Road area in the Jackson community of Breathitt County.
- KSP troopers and local search-and-rescue teams responded and began searching the surrounding area.
- Preliminary investigation indicated Jayden was believed to have left his residence during the overnight hours or early morning.
- Jayden was described as a white male, approximately 5 feet 1 inch tall, with a slim build, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
- He was last seen wearing blue Sonic the Hedgehog pajama pants and a matching shirt.
- Detective Nathan Roark led the investigation. Source
- The mother provided a written statement to the media. Source
- 3:00 AM: Rescuers searched on foot, by all-terrain vehicle, canine, drone, sonar, and helicopter across more than twenty square miles after Jayden was reported missing.
- The last crew left the woods shortly after 3:00 a.m. to reset for a second day of searching.
- Morning: The search restarted at daybreak, and access to Panbowl Branch was controlled to prevent congestion on the one-lane roadway.
- Officials asked the public to avoid the area so search efforts would not be impeded.
- 9:30 AM: Search crews continued looking for Jayden in the Panbowl Branch area. Source
- Teams from the Quicksand and Jackson Fire Departments supported efforts by the Breathitt County Sheriff’s Office, Breathitt County Emergency Management, and Kentucky State Police.
- Officials asked anyone with information about Jayden’s whereabouts to call Kentucky State Police Post 13 in Hazard at 606-435-6069.
- 3:33 PM: Kentucky State Police Post 13 continued investigating Jayden’s disappearance.
- Organized search efforts had thoroughly searched priority areas and continued to use available resources, including aircraft, drone, K9, sonar, FLIR, and ground search teams.
- KSP stated it would broaden the investigation and explore other areas to locate Jayden.
- The public was asked to remain alert and report information to KSP Post 13 or through the Kentucky State Police tip line. Source
- In the early afternoon, a new tip directed search teams to a wooded area off Canoe Road. Source
- In a recorded, Mirandized interview, Felicia Gross confessed to providing Jayden a type of sleeping medication.
- Gross stated the medication caused Jayden to have a medical emergency and that she believed he had passed away from that emergency.
- Gross further stated that she transported Jayden’s body to a wooded area on Canoe Road near the mouth of Joe Little Fork.
- Investigators said Gross coached two of Jayden’s siblings on what to say during interviews. Source
- 3:00 PM: The remains of Jayden Spicer were discovered buried at the scene off Canoe Road.
- The Breathitt County Coroner’s Office responded and pronounced the child deceased.
- The remains were to be transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort for autopsy.
- Felicia A. Gross, 33, of Jackson, was taken into custody and transported to the Kentucky River Regional Jail.
- She was charged with second-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and falsely reporting an incident.
- The case transitioned from a missing-person investigation to an active criminal investigation led by Detective Nathan Roark.
- 8:30 PM: Kentucky State Police held a press conference about Jayden Spicer. Source
- Gross was taken into custody near Jackson, Kentucky by Kentucky State Police Post 13 troopers.
- She was booked into the Kentucky River Regional Jail in Perry County.
- Felicia Gross’s bond was set at $1 million cash. Source
- 8:30 PM: A community vigil for Jayden Spicer was held at Douthitt Park in Jackson, Kentucky. Source
- 10:00 AM: Felicia Gross’s preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin.
- 11:00 AM: Detective Nathan Roark presented Jayden’s case to the grand jury.
- 11:15 AM: The grand jury returned an indictment. Source
- Felicia Gross was indicted for murder, falsely reporting an incident that generates an emergency response, tampering with physical evidence, abuse of a corpse, and two counts of tampering with a witness.
- Joshua Gross was indicted for complicity to murder, complicity to falsely report an incident that generates an emergency response, tampering with physical evidence, abuse of a corpse, and two counts of complicity to tamper with a witness.
- Both defendants were held at Kentucky River Regional Jail on $1,000,000 bond each.
- 12:00 PM: Joshua Gross was arrested while shopping at Dollar General Market.
- 12:20 PM: Joshua Gross’s vehicle was impounded.
- 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM: Visitation for Jayden was scheduled at Breathitt Funeral Home.
- 2:00 PM: Funeral for Jayden.
- Deputy Coroner Kenneth Lewis, Lee County Sheriff, Jailer, EMS, County Fire, Beattyville Police Department, and hundreds of others with agencies from across the state joined the funeral procession for 10-year-old Jayden Spicer. Source
FELICIA A. GROSS
Felicia A. Gross, Background and Case Involvement
August 5, 2025. Jayden Spicer, age 10, was last seen at his home on Panbowl Branch Road near Jackson in Breathitt County, Kentucky. He was reported missing the following morning after being put to bed the previous night. Early Life and Family
- Full name: Felicia Ann Gross, née Brunty.
- Born: October 1991, Eastern Kentucky, Appalachian region.
- Mother: Lisa Brunty.
- Sisters: Samantha Brunty and Shai Salers.
- Grandmother: Shirley Johnson, who later raised Felicia’s children.
- Felicia became a mother to three children: Mia, Jayden, and Elias Spicer.
- Felicia reportedly struggled to provide stable care for her children from the start.
- Shirley Johnson became the main caregiver for Mia, Jayden, and Elias.
- Felicia’s children knew Shirley as “Mama” and relied on her as their true maternal figure.
- Felicia’s adult life was marked by substance abuse and repeated encounters with the law.
- Charges included drug charges, firearms violations, child endangerment, and wanton endangerment.
- She served approximately three years in prison over the course of multiple convictions.
- CPS maintained ongoing involvement in her children’s lives for years.
- Felicia later married Josh Gross.
- Together they had three children: Hunter, River, and Fiser.
- By mid-2025, Felicia was living with Josh and their three young sons in a single-wide trailer on Panbowl Branch Road.
- After Shirley Johnson died on May 20, 2025, custody of Jayden shifted.
- Aunt Samantha briefly took him in, but with multiple children of her own, caring for Jayden’s needs became difficult.
- CPS, aiming for family reunification, returned Jayden to Felicia after she reportedly completed requirements, including drug testing and parenting classes.
- Jayden moved into the trailer with Felicia and Josh in summer 2025.
- August 6, 2025: Felicia reported Jayden missing, claiming he disappeared overnight.
- August 12, 2025: After a tip and questioning, Felicia confessed that she gave Jayden sleeping medication, which caused a medical emergency.
- She stated she believed he died, transported his body in a tote, and buried it in a shallow grave on Canoe Road.
- She admitted to coaching her children on what to say during police interviews.
- Jayden’s body was recovered later that day.
- Second-degree manslaughter.
- Abuse of a corpse.
- Tampering with physical evidence.
- Falsely reporting an incident.
- Tampering with a witness.
- Murder.
- Falsely reporting incident generating emergency response.
- Tampering with physical evidence.
- Abuse of a corpse.
- Two counts of tampering with a witness.
- Felicia Gross remained incarcerated at Kentucky River Regional Jail with bond set at $1,000,000 cash.
BODY LOCATION
Missing 10-year-old Jackson Boy Found Dead, Mother Arrested
After troopers received new information, the search pivoted to the Canoe Road area. Jayden’s body was buried in a remote area off Canoe Road, around 19 miles from the Panbowl Branch Road home. Open route map