A Minnesota father was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his 16-year-old son, whose remains were recovered from a landfill after the boy vanished for more than a month.
Fox News Digital reported that Jordan Dupree Collins Sr. was found guilty Wednesday of second-degree murder in the death of his son, Jordan "Manny" Collins. Sentencing is set for Dec. 2, 2026.
Collins represented himself at trial. He has been locked up since his July 7, 2025 arrest. The case turned on blood evidence in his apartment, garbage-truck surveillance, and a body pulled from an Elk River landfill weeks after the teen disappeared.
Manny was 16. His mother, Ashley Berry, had described him as someone who was "always helping others, spreading kindness, and lifting up those around him."
Last contacts came on the morning of May 8
According to the criminal complaint summarized in court coverage, Manny went to his father's apartment in Columbia Heights in May 2025 and was never heard from again.
His mother and his girlfriend both told police they last communicated with him in the early morning hours of May 8, 2025. That afternoon, Collins told the boy's mother a different story: that Manny had left the apartment to go to St. Paul to visit his girlfriend and grandmother.
The girlfriend later told authorities that Manny never indicated he was coming to visit during their last video call. The conflicting accounts left investigators focused on the apartment where the teen was last known to be.
Cases built on missing-person timelines and later DNA matches have driven other recent homicide probes, including one in which DNA confirmed creek remains belonged to a missing flight attendant.
Blood-stained items turned up in a living-room closet
On May 15, 2025, police obtained a search warrant and entered Collins' apartment. Inside garbage bags in a living room closet, they found "items with apparent blood staining."
DNA testing confirmed the blood belonged to Manny. That finding shifted the investigation from a missing-teen case to a suspected homicide centered on the father's home.
Surveillance footage later showed a garbage truck emptying a dumpster behind the apartment. That lead sent investigators to the landfill.
Hidden or discarded remains have marked other recent killings as well, including a Georgia case where a family identified a mother found dismembered in a plastic tub.
Landfill search recovered the body weeks later
In early June 2025, local law enforcement, the FBI, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension launched an extensive search of the Elk River landfill.
On June 28, 2025, investigators recovered Manny's body. An autopsy determined he was likely decapitated with a knife.
Collins was arrested on July 7, 2025 and has remained in custody ever since. The span from last contact to arrest ran roughly two months; the span from disappearance to conviction stretched more than a year.
Unexplained trauma deaths continue to draw major police resources nationwide, from an NYPD probe of a Central Park death to other high-profile body recoveries.
Sheriff says the verdict cannot erase the loss
Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise stated after the guilty verdict. He did not say much about what the jury's decision means for the family still living with the loss.
"Manny should still be here today."
Wise also addressed the limits of any courtroom result.
"No verdict can remove the pain his loved ones feel, but we hope this decision provides some measure of justice. Our thoughts remain with Manny’s family, especially his mother, Ashley, as they continue to grieve and remember him."
Homicide investigations tied to bodies found at private properties have also drawn public attention elsewhere, including a Boston case involving a body found at a rental property under police review.
Self-representation did not stop a second-degree murder conviction
Collins chose to represent himself at trial. Juries still heard the chain of evidence: the last known visit to the father's apartment, the false trail about a St. Paul trip, blood DNA inside the home, the garbage-truck path to the landfill, and the autopsy finding of a likely knife decapitation.
He was convicted of second-degree murder. Under Minnesota practice, that conviction now moves the case to sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 2, 2026. He has already spent more than a year in custody since the July 2025 arrest.
Large-scale remains recoveries in other states have likewise ended with suspects identified and cases closed in court, including an Oregon probe after five bodies were discovered on a rural property near Portland.
A father is supposed to protect his child. When that duty is replaced by violence, disposal, and a cover story, the only answer left is a courtroom that names the crime and holds the offender to account.
