DICKSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – It’s been five years since the little boy known as “Baby Joe” was reported missing from Dickson County, and the sad reality is that we still don’t know where he is.

It’s a question that still lingers on the minds of investigators and the community.

“He was a sweet child,” said Lt. Sarah Humphreys with the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office, who is one of the investigators on the case.

Joe Clyde Daniels stood just four feet tall; he was affectionally known as “Baby Joe” and had a smile that captured the community.

“He was so young and that doesn’t really happen here,” Humphreys stated. 

“That” is what rocked Dickson County on April 4, 2018.

“We know that Baby Joe was beaten to death by his father and that his body was disposed of, we just don’t know where,” Humphreys said.

There were grueling hunts through extreme elements that extended countless hours, with hundreds of law enforcement and strangers that just wanted to help find closure, a feeling that still lingers years later. 

“Our community still hurts over it,” Humphreys said.

The child’s father, Joseph Daniels, was found guilty of felony murder among other charges relating to his son’s death and was sentenced to 51 years behind bars. The child’s mother, Krystal, entered a no contest plea for her role and received a 15-year sentence.

Court testimony said Joseph Daniels was seen carrying Baby Joe’s body away from the house, but his whereabouts from there, according to Humphreys, “gets complicated” leaving the question, “Where is Baby Joe?”

“Just waiting on that phone call from a hunter, hiker somewhere finding something,” said investigator Capt. Trevor Daniel with the sheriff’s office.  

Theories vary from everyone on the team of where the child was taken that night. However, searches of those areas have left these investigators carrying the heartache with no resolve.

“l think it’s just as likely that his body would have been placed into a dumpster as it’s just as likely his body would have been placed into water or into the woods somewhere. That’s what we can’t say for sure. We don’t know,” said Humphreys.  

While the case remains open, investigators haven’t received a credible tip in years, but they are holding on to hope that one day they will find Baby Joe and put him to rest.

“There’s something that was missed, but you know we might receive the key one day to unlock the whole thing and find him. That’s all we hope for at this point is just to find his body,” said Humphreys.

Jeff Bledsoe, who was the sheriff during the initial investigation, told News 2, “I continue to think of Joe Clyde Daniels. It is my desire and prayer that his father will allow him to have a proper burial by telling where his remains are located. It is the right thing to do for eternal forgiveness.”

Attorneys for Joseph Daniels are asking for a new trial. They told News 2 that the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference is in the process of preparing the appeals brief to file with the Court of Criminal Appeals.