BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A 6-year-old boy who vanished a week ago while playing near his home was found slain Thursday after a registered sex offender and three other suspects stymied investigators for days with conflicting stories of the youngster's fate.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said all four suspects arrested in connection with the boy's disappearance would probably be charged with murder in the slaying of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr.

Doering said it was obvious the boy had been killed, but he would not say how and would not disclose how long the body had been there.

"Sadly, Christopher is not with us anymore," Doering said.

He said information from the four people they have in custody did not lead authorities to Christopher's body.

"They told he was buried. He was not. They did tell us he was covered up. So, there was truth in that. They did tell us he was in the woods. So, there was truth in that. But, as you can see there are an awful lot of woods," Doering said. "It was simply a matter of expanding our search area. This area has been searched before. Volunteers have searched this area before. Officers have searched this area before, and Fish and Game. So, you go back and you're more meticulous and walk and look and be more careful."

Christopher's body was found in a black trash bag among some trees and brush just 15 feet from a roadside behind the Glynn County Airport. A Department of Natural Resources game warden helping in the search, Cpl. Jesse Cook, said he and a co-worker stopped to investigate when they spotted tire marks where a car had pulled off the road.

Once they got out to look, they found the bag in plain sight.

"It was obvious, but if you weren't looking for it, you probably would've thought it was just a trash bag. It didn't appear to have trash in it, and we also observed bugs around it," Cook said. "I'm glad it's over for the family. It's difficult."

About 60 volunteer searchers, many wearing T-shirts printed with the boy's photo, hugged and wept as Doering confirmed Christopher's death.

"You suspected all along in your heart; it's just not the outcome you want," said Mari Charnock. "At least we know, though. At least it's over."

Earlier this week, police arrested four people -- a convicted child molester living in the trailer park, his parents and a friend of theirs -- in connection with the boy's disappearance.

Investigators said the four told a tangle of conflicting and ever-shifting stories -- that they knew nothing about the boy's disappearance, that the boy was still alive, and that he had been abducted, killed and buried. But repeated searches of the spots where the boy was supposedly buried turned up nothing, investigators said.

Doering said none of the tips from the suspects led to the discovery of the body. The body was found near the county airport, miles away from the patch of dense woods close to the trailer park where investigators were led to believe the boy had been buried.

Christopher lived with his father in a neighborhood of about 50 mobile homes along a narrow, U-shaped road just outside of Brunswick. Neighbors told police that they last saw the boy on the evening of March 8, playing by himself on the swing set outside a friend's home. One of his toys, a Star Wars light saber, was found beside the road.

George David Edenfield, a mentally slow 32-year-old man who lived with his parents across the street from the boy's grandmother, was arrested and charged with violating his probation from a 1997 child molestation conviction, which prohibits him from contact with children.

Police said he admitted playing a role in Christopher's disappearance, but they would not be more specific.

Neighbors said the Edenfields moved into the mobile home park less than a year ago. Word soon spread that one of them was a convicted child molester, a rumor neighbors easily confirmed via Georgia's online sex offender registry.

Many kept their distance from the Edenfields' trailer with filled trash bags and aluminum cans piled under the porch.

Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, said she had warned her grandson to stay away from the Edenfield home after she found her neighbor's name on Georgia's online sex offender registry.

“I told him, 'Christopher, they're not nice people. Stay away from them,'” Rodriguez said

Neighbors said the man sometimes behaved like a child. Doering, the police chief, said the man is not mentally retarded -- "he's just not too bright" and sometimes responded to questions like a 5-year-old.

Edenfield's parents, Peggy and David Edenfield, were jailed on charges of obstruction and lying to police because they first denied knowing anything about the boy's disappearance and then later said they knew he had been abducted, authorities said.

The same charges were brought against a fourth suspect, Donald Dale. Police said he told them he helped bury the boy.

The chief said Christopher's death is being treated as a homicide, with the four people currently in custody being treated as suspects.

"We believe they were involved in his abduction, and they are the only ones we believe were involved," Doering said.

He said the suspects in custody would very likely face murder charges.

Doering also said they have a suspected motive in the boy's slaying, but he would not elaborate.

Christopher's body was taken from the woods by ambulance. An autopsy is expected to be performed at the GBI Crime Lab in Savannah.

Family Reacts To Tragic News

As the community awaits word about how Christopher died, the boy's family is forced to begin planning a funeral.

His relatives said through the past week of searching they never gave up hope, praying their loved one would return home safe and sound.

"It's been a long day. I miss my baby. I was hoping for a better outcome," said Christopher's father, Michael Barrios.

"Him coming home, ready to go get on the computer or to play. I had the chain on to show him," said the boy's grandmother.

Both Christopher's grandmother and father wore dog tags around their necks, displaying the boy's picture.

Michael Barrios also wore a toy watch he said his son loved.

They said they would not forget Christopher, especially the way the boy would say goodnight.

"He always would come up and the last thing he said at night would be, 'Goodnight. God bless, and I love you.' He said that to everybody," Michael Barrios said.

The grieving family members said they were angry they would never hear Christopher say those words again, and they said that they want justice for the four people who police say were involved.

"This family that's responsible for bringing this harm to my son. I just hope that they get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and they're shown no mercy, that the whole rest of their lives are miserable," Michael Barrios said.

He said he would be in court every step of the way through the prosecution, but for now they said they are just grieving and taking things one day at a time.