The Eyrie

NORMAN, OK — New court documents are shedding light on the disappearance of a 4-year-old Norman boy and his father, whose search ended with both being found dead in Gainesville, Texas. Norman police said Caleb Furley, 25, and his son Andres Furley were located by Gainesville officers on Wednesday, two days after they were reported missing.

Authorities said a medical examiner later confirmed the identities of the bodies found on Oct. 14. Gainesville police have not said how the two died. The case began as an endangered alert and later became an Amber Alert after investigators believed the father may have crossed state lines with the child.

Police say the boy’s mother raised concerns Monday night

Norman police were contacted Monday night by the boy’s mother, who said she could not reach Furley by phone and he was not at his apartment. Officers later learned he was supposed to take Andres to school that morning, but the child never arrived.

Captain Lee McWhorter of the Norman Police Department said the mother was worried about Furley’s mental state. He said there had been concern about possible mental health issues, and investigators also considered whether substance abuse may have been involved.

According to McWhorter, Furley had been seeing a counselor but stopped, was not taking medication and may have been dealing with other issues. Police then moved quickly to try to locate both father and son before the situation escalated further.

Flock cameras tracked the truck from Noble to Cooke County

Court filings indicate investigators were able to trace Furley’s truck using Flock camera technology. The vehicle was seen in Noble on Monday morning and later in Cooke County, Texas, that same afternoon, giving police a clearer path to follow.

That movement helped confirm that Furley and his son had left Oklahoma. Norman police said the phone associated with Furley was found near Lake Thunderbird and had been left there before he drove away.

Investigators also searched Furley’s apartment on Monday. Police said they found no blood and no signs of violence inside, which shaped the early stages of the search and helped steer officers toward a missing-person investigation rather than an immediate crime scene response.

Amber Alert followed a child-stealing warrant

As the investigation developed, police applied for a warrant for Furley on a child-stealing charge after they believed he may have taken the child across state lines. McWhorter said the child alert changed from an endangered notice to an Amber Alert once the warrant became active.

The escalation reflected the growing concern around Andres’ safety and the possibility that Furley had left Oklahoma with no plan to return. Officials have not said what prompted the trip to Texas or where the pair may have been headed.

The case drew urgent attention because the child was so young and because investigators were working from very limited information. The alert system was designed to widen the search quickly, giving law enforcement agencies a broader picture of where the truck might appear next.

Gainesville officers found both bodies on Wednesday

Police in Gainesville, Texas, found Caleb Furley and Andres Furley on Wednesday, ending the search in the worst possible way. Officials have not publicly released the exact circumstances surrounding the discovery, and Gainesville police have not identified how the father and son died.

News of the deaths came as a shock to the agencies involved in the search. McWhorter said the outcome was painful for everyone who had worked the case. The Norman Police Department has continued to coordinate with Texas authorities as the investigation moves forward.

With the medical examiner confirming the bodies, investigators now face the task of reconstructing the final hours of the father and son. The unanswered questions include where they were after leaving Oklahoma and what happened before officers found them in Gainesville.

Family and investigators are left with unanswered questions

The case has highlighted how quickly a missing-person call can turn into an interstate search when there are concerns about a child’s safety. In this case, police were trying to piece together Furley’s mental health concerns, his route out of Oklahoma and the final location of the truck as they moved across county and state lines.

Even after the search ended, key details remain unknown. Police have not said whether there were signs of foul play, and the cause of death has not been made public. Those answers are now expected to come from the ongoing investigation and any findings released by Texas authorities.

For now, the confirmed facts are limited but devastating: a worried mother called police, cameras tracked the truck, and days later both father and son were found dead in Texas. Officials have described the outcome as tragic, but many of the circumstances surrounding it are still being sorted out.