The body of 4-year-old Mason Dominquez was discovered in a freezer at a Las Vegas home on Tuesday after his sister gave her elementary school teacher an alarming note that prompted a homicide investigation.

Reno Gazette-Journal reports that Las Vegas homicide Lt. Ray Spencer told them that a note written by the children's mother claimed that her boyfriend held her against her will in their home.

"She stated that she didn't know where her younger child was," Lt. Spencer said. "and that she believed he was deceased."

The child's teacher notified authorities around 8 a.m. Tuesday, which led to a team of police officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department monitoring the family's northeast Las Vegas home.

Around 10 a.m., the children's mother, who had not been identified, and her boyfriend, Brandon Toseland, were seen leaving the house when the officers pulled the couple over and detained Toseland.

According to Lt. Spencer, the mother said that the last time she saw her son was Dec. 11 and described the months of abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of her boyfriend. Toseland, who is not the children's father, was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center in downtown Las Vegas on two counts of first-degree kidnapping shortly after the traffic stop.

Toseland's arrest history is reported to date back to 2005 for charges including domestic battery and disorderly conduct.

After securing a search warrant Tuesday afternoon, Lt. Spencer and his team searched the home, finding Mason in the freezer, hidden under a false cardboard bottom and multiple food items. Lt. Spencer said that the freezer was in the garage, where the mother said she was not allowed to enter.

"She said she was not allowed to leave the house alone or go into the garage," Lt. Spencer said.

The woman told law officers that Toseland locked Mason in the master bedroom after the child fell ill in December. He would eventually admit to his girlfriend that Mason had died, claiming it was an accident. After confessing the child's death, the child's mother said Toseland allegedly took her cellphone away and would begin "bounding/typing her" up.

The family of Mason started a GoFundMe Campaign to raise money for his funeral expenses, raising over $11K of the $20K they are looking for. Relatives of Mason describes him as a happy, sweet, and intelligent boy loved by all of his family, including his father, Elijah Dominguez.

"Mason Dominguez was just like any other 4 year old, happy, sweet, intelligent, very out-going," the post reads. "He's super loved by his aunts, uncles & cousins. His dad loved him so much; he made him super happy that he looked & acted just like him."

Mason is expected to be buried next to his father, Elijah, who tragically passed away last January—when Mason was three and his sister was six – after falling ill just before Thanksgiving of 2020.

Toseland is scheduled to return to court on Thursday for the murder case, while a status hearing for the kidnapping case was set for Feb. 28. After that, Las Vegas prosecutors could combine the charges under one criminal case.

Blavity-UBlavity-U-NewsBrandon ToselandMason Dominquez