Four-year-old remains ID’d in Selah, father arrested

The Selah Police Department confirmed the human remains discovered on Cowiche Mill Road last month were of a four-year-old boy, Alaric “AJ” Funderburgh.

“We can now confirm that the human remains located on Cowiche Mill Road are, in fact, those of the missing four-year-old boy, Alaric ‘AJ’ Funderburgh,” the Selah Police Department wrote. “The autopsy of Alaric was conducted on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office is still conducting further tests to identify the cause of death.”

The remains were found on April 16, and the autopsy began on April 22. While the King County Medical Examiner’s Office was able to identify the remains, the office is still determining the cause of death.

Alairc’s father, Preston Funderburgh, 33, was arrested on April 17 in connection with the investigation. Funderburgh faced charges of theft of government money and wire fraud after a Social Security investigator allegedly discovered that Funderburgh continued to collect payments directed to his son for several months after he died.

Funderburgh had an initial appearance Thursday for two alleged federal felonies of theft of government money and wire fraud, while his misdemeanor charges of unlawful disposal of human remains, obstructing law enforcement, and making false statements to public officials were dismissed. Prosecutors can refile the charges should circumstances change.

Discovery of AJ’s body

A detective with the Selah Police Department visited Funderburgh’s home on April 16 to check on AJ’s welfare. A friend of AJ’s grandfather said the grandparents had not seen AJ for a year.

When contacted by Selah police, Funderburgh said that AJ was “fine” and was staying with the boy’s grandmother, who lives on Cowiche Mill Road, because his house was infested with bedbugs, according to a complaint obtained by The Yakima Herald.

AJ’s grandmother told police he was not living with her.

When Selah police detectives pressed Funderburgh further on April 17, he told officers that he found AJ dead in his bed in his home on Dec. 2. Not wanting to lose his other children, the father allegedly panicked and buried AJ out on Cowiche Mill Road and directed officers to the location.

AJ had a heart condition that was described as a “hole in his heart,” according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court. AJ’s mother died in 2022. Funderburgh allegedly kept receiving the survivors’ benefits AJ and another sibling were given after the mother’s death from December 2024 through April 2025.

Funderburgh is expected to remain in custody until his detention hearing on May 9. Funderburgh has a prior conviction for third-degree theft in Benton County in 2017.

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