By Jeffrey Collins
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina man accused of killing his five children was an ex-convict whose homes were visited by social workers a dozen times in the last three years.

The children seemed happy and well-adjusted despite occasional spankings, and the family took a summer trip to Disney World and the beach, according to documents released by the Department of Social Services on Thursday. Authorities never found anything serious enough to take the children away, but the documents show Jones as a single father and computer engineer struggling to raise his children.

In the social worker’s last visit — two weeks before the children’s disappearance — a social worker summed up Jones’ life: “Dad appears to be overwhelmed as he is unable to maintain the home, but the children appear to be clean, groomed and appropriately dressed,” wrote the case worker, whose name was blacked out, on an Aug. 13 report.

On Aug. 28, Jones picked up his children, ages 8, 7, 6, 2 and 1, from school and day care. Acting Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty said the three boys and two girls were likely killed soon after that, with Jones loading their bodies in trash bags in his Cadillac Escalade, driving around the Southeast for days with the decomposing bodies.

An intoxicated and agitated Jones was arrested at a DUI checkpoint in Smith County, Mississippi, on Saturday, and authorities said he had a form of synthetic marijuana on him. Officers found children’s clothes, blood and maggots in his SUV.

Three days later, he led police to the bodies on a remote hillside in Wilcox County. Authorities said they still don’t know his motive, how the children were killed and why they were buried there.

Jones was returned to South Carolina on Thursday to face murder charges. His first court appearance was Friday, the same day a memorial for his children was to be held in Mississippi, where other relatives live.

When Jones was 19, he was arrested for cocaine possession and a crime spree in the suburbs of Chicago, where he grew up. He was convicted of car theft, burglary and passing forged checks on his father’s account, ranging from $4 to $62.

For the crime spree, he received concurrent six-year terms, and had a year tacked on for the drug possession.

“Typical teenager doing stupid stuff, that’s about it,” Jones’ father, Tim Jones Sr., told The Associated Press by phone from his home in Amory, Mississippi.

Jones Jr. was an exemplary student and then decided to join the Navy, his father said.

“After that he started hanging in the wrong crowd and got himself in trouble,” his dad said.

Jones Sr. said his son was discharged early from the Navy.