The quiet rural town of Zebulon, North Carolina, has been shaken by one of the most horrifying crimes in its history. Authorities say Wellington Delano Dickens III, a 38-year-old father, killed four of his children over the course of several months before hiding their bodies in the trunk of a car in his garage.
When he walked into the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office earlier this week and turned himself in, investigators could hardly imagine the grim scene they were about to uncover. The case, marked by secrecy, isolation, and unspeakable tragedy, has left the community searching for answers to what led a father to commit such an act.
A Father’s Confession and a Horrifying Discovery
According to law enforcement officials, Wellington Delano Dickens III arrived at the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office on Monday and calmly informed officers that the bodies of his four children could be found in the trunk of a vehicle parked at his home in Zebulon. Deputies immediately rushed to the property, where they discovered multiple deceased children inside a car in the garage. Authorities later confirmed that Dickens’ youngest son, a three-year-old, was still alive and found unharmed inside the house.
Sheriff Steve Bizzell, who leads the investigation, told reporters that the discovery shocked even the most seasoned officers. The children’s remains appeared to have been in the vehicle for an extended period of time, suggesting that the killings had occurred over several months. “It’s just unimaginable,” Bizzell said during a news conference. “As a sheriff, as a father, and as a grandfather, there’s no reason for a father to murder his children.”
Wellington Delano Dickens III was initially charged with one count of murder following his surrender, but as investigators identified each of the victims, the charges quickly multiplied. By midweek, he faced four counts of murder—one for each of the children whose lives were lost. He is being held without bond in the Johnston County Jail, and authorities have not announced whether he has retained legal counsel.
Heartbroken over NC, Johnston County’s tragedy: Wellington Delano Dickens III confessed to murdering his four children—Leah (6), Zoe (9), Wellington (10), and stepson Sean (18)—and keeping their remains in his car trunk for months. He faces four counts of first-degree murder. A… pic.twitter.com/Dj3nL4XaoF
— 𝐿𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝒱 🥀 (@V_Lady2024) October 29, 2025
The sheriff’s office confirmed that the victims were Dickens’ three biological children—six-year-old Leah, nine-year-old Zoe, and ten-year-old Wellington—and his eighteen-year-old stepson, Sean Brassfield. Investigators believe Leah was killed in May, Zoe in August, Wellington in late August or early September, and Sean in September. Their bodies, according to the sheriff, were kept in the car’s trunk during that time.
A Family Shrouded in Secrecy and Isolation
As detectives continue to piece together the timeline of events, a troubling picture of isolation and secrecy has emerged around the Dickens household. Captain Don Pate of the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office described the family’s lifestyle as “very secluded.” The family rarely interacted with their neighbors, and the children were homeschooled, leaving few outside eyes to notice when they began to disappear.
“The neighbors said they never saw them come outside,” Pate explained. “They were homeschooled, so they were just confined to the house.” This extreme isolation may have allowed the killings to go unnoticed for months, even as Wellington Delano Dickens III reportedly continued living in the home with his youngest son and the hidden remains of his other children nearby.
Investigators have not disclosed the conditions inside the home or the state of the bodies, but they have confirmed that evidence suggests the children had been deceased for a significant period before the discovery. Forensic examinations are ongoing to determine how each child died, but authorities have yet to release any information about the cause or manner of death.
Neighbors in Zebulon, a small community about thirty minutes east of Raleigh, described a sense of disbelief that such a tragedy could have unfolded in their midst. “We never saw the kids outside, not once,” one neighbor told local news reporters. “It’s heartbreaking to think they were right there all along and no one knew.” Others recalled occasional glimpses of Dickens, but none reported seeing his wife or children in recent months.
Sheriff Bizzell has emphasized that his department is working carefully to uncover the truth behind the family’s isolation and the events that led to the killings. “This is one of the most disturbing and tragic cases we’ve ever seen in Johnston County,” he said. “We are committed to finding out exactly what happened and why.”
A Tragic Family History and Unanswered Questions
The Dickens case has taken on even more complexity as investigators revealed that tragedy had already struck the family earlier this year. In April 2024, Dickens’ wife, 35-year-old Stephanie Rae Jones Dickens, died unexpectedly at the couple’s home. At the time, Wellington Delano Dickens III told authorities that his wife, who was three months pregnant, had been experiencing heavy bleeding but refused to seek medical help.
Her death was officially ruled as complications from a miscarriage, according to Sheriff Bizzell. No foul play was suspected at the time, and Dickens appeared to be a grieving husband left to care for five children on his own. But with the discovery of the children’s bodies and the gruesome revelations that followed, investigators are now likely to revisit that earlier death in light of the new circumstances.
Family members and acquaintances have begun speaking out, expressing shock and sorrow at the chain of events. Dickens’ great uncle, Charles Moore, told WRAL-TV that he had not seen his nephew in about a year but remembered him as a quiet man who appeared stable. “He was an Iraq War veteran, and as far as I knew, he was doing fine,” Moore said. “I can’t understand what happened or what went wrong.”
The mention of Dickens’ military service has prompted speculation about his mental health, but authorities have not confirmed whether he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder or any other condition. For now, investigators are focusing on reconstructing the months leading up to the killings and determining what might have driven the father to take such horrific actions against his own family.
Sheriff Bizzell acknowledged that investigators are exploring all possible motives, but he cautioned against drawing conclusions prematurely. “There’s no justification that can make sense of this,” he said. “It’s our job now to understand the circumstances that led to these deaths, but nothing will ever make it right.”
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The sheriff’s office has confirmed that child protective services had no prior involvement with the family, and there were no known reports of domestic violence or abuse. That lack of prior contact has made the case even more puzzling for authorities, who now must determine how four children could have been killed in the same household without detection.
In the aftermath of the discovery, local residents have gathered to hold vigils and leave flowers near the Dickens home. Many expressed deep sorrow for the surviving three-year-old child, who now faces a life marked by the trauma of what occurred. “That baby is going to grow up and one day learn about this,” said one mourner. “It’s unbearable to think about.”
Authorities have not disclosed where the surviving child is being housed, but they have confirmed that he is safe and in the care of protective services. The investigation remains ongoing, and detectives have said additional charges could be filed as forensic evidence is processed and new details emerge.
As the community mourns, many are calling for better systems to detect and prevent such tragedies, especially among families living in isolation. Local officials have pointed out that homeschooling laws in North Carolina grant families broad autonomy, which can sometimes make it difficult for educators or social workers to identify children who may be in danger. “This case highlights the gaps in oversight,” one county official said. “We need to make sure children who are homeschooled aren’t completely invisible.”
The story of Wellington Delano Dickens III has become a national headline not only for the unimaginable violence it represents but also for the haunting silence that surrounded it. For months, four children were missing from the world, their voices unheard, their absence unnoticed by those outside the walls of their secluded home.
As investigators continue to sift through evidence and interview relatives, the full picture of what happened in that quiet Zebulon neighborhood may take weeks or months to emerge. For now, what remains are the names of four lost children—Leah, Zoe, Wellington, and Sean—and a stunned community trying to comprehend how their lives ended in such a horrific way.
The case stands as one of the darkest in North Carolina’s recent memory, a tragedy that exposes not just the unimaginable capacity for violence within a family but also the devastating consequences of isolation. Whether the motive will ever be fully understood remains uncertain, but for the residents of Johnston County, the scars of this crime will not soon fade.
Authorities have urged the public to remember the victims rather than the man accused of killing them. “Those children deserved life, love, and safety,” Sheriff Bizzell said at the end of his statement. “We may never understand why this happened, but we will never stop seeking justice for them.”