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Sex offender, 3 others held as police seek boy

Story Highlights

NEW: Police hold 4 in disappearance of Georgia boy, 6
• Christopher Barrios was last seen Thursday at trailer park where he lived
• Suspects include neighbors -- a sex offender, his parents and their friend
• Sex offender's mother told police to search woods for a body
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BRUNSWICK, Georgia (CNN) -- Police on Wednesday named a convicted sex offender, his parents and a family friend as suspects in the disappearance of a Georgia boy, 6, who has been missing since last week.

George Edenfield, his parents David and Peggy Edenfield, and family friend Donald Dale are being held in connection with the case, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said.

The four gave information indicating that the body of Christopher Barrios could be found in a field in the area, but a police search turned up nothing on Tuesday night, Doering said. (Watch police hold out hope of finding the child alive Video)

Investigators returned to the field Wednesday morning to resume the search, the chief added.

"They told us to look back here. ... That we would expect to find Christopher back here, buried," Doering told reporters.

The four face possible charges of lying to investigators, obstruction of justice and concealing the death of another -- a charge that Doering said does not require a body to prove, only that someone hindered the discovery of a death.

But the chief said authorities won't give up hope of finding Christopher alive, until they find concrete evidence to the contrary.

George Edenfield, 31, was taken into custody Friday for a probation violation, according to Glynn County Police Capt. Jim Nazzrie. A resident of the same mobile home park as the boy, Edenfield consented to a police search of his home, but no clues were found there, Nazzrie said.

Christopher was last seen about 6:15 p.m. Thursday, according to Nazzrie.

At the mobile home, police spoke with Edenfield's mother, who told them to search woods they previously had combed, Nazzrie said. A second search of the woods turned up nothing, he said.

Police then arrested Edenfield's mother, Peggy, on suspicion of interfering with a criminal investigation, Nazzrie said.

"His mother did a lot of talking, like, 'You need to look here' and 'You should look over there,' " Nazzrie told CNN. Police followed the leads but found nothing, he said.

Edenfield was convicted of two counts of child molestation in 1997, according to Georgia's sex offender registry.

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