A North Carolina father accused of killing four of his children brought Grindr dates home as their bodies lay stuffed in the trunk of a car, according to search warrants.

Wellington Delano Dickens III, a 38-year-old resident of a rural town in the eastern part of the state, turned himself in to police last October and told Johnston County authorities where to find the bodies of his four slain children.

Dickens allegedly admitted that he was responsible for the deaths of his children; he denied torture, according to the search warrants released January 14, but admitted he may have “over-punished” them.

Officers found two cellphones when searching his home, reported local news affiliate WBTV, one of which did not have the Grindr app installed but “contained text messages believed to have been sent from Wellington introducing himself to people he wrote met on the app.”

The search warrant papers revealed that several people Dickens had met through Grindr were believed to have been to his home during the period over which the children were murdered.

The killings began last May, when five-year-old daughter Leah Dickens died after being disciplined by her father, officials allege.

Then, in August, he allegedly taped up the mouth of nine-year-old Zoe Dickens for making comments about her sister’s death, and later told police that when he went back to check on the older girl, she had also died.

Son Wellington Dickens, 10, died in either late August or early September, and stepson Sean Brassfield, 18, in September, both from what Dickens told authorities was malnutrition.

Sheriff’s Captain Don Pate revealed at an October press conference that the family lived a “very secluded” life and that the children were homeschooled.

“The neighbors said they never saw them come outside, and they were homeschooled, so they were just confined to the house,” Pate said.

Dickens’ wife, Stephanie Rae Jones Dickens, had died at home in April 2024. Stephanie, who was three months pregnant, was found dead by Dickens, and he told authorities she had severe bleeding the night before but wouldn’t get medical help. Her death was attributed to complications from a miscarriage, according to local sheriff Steve Bizzell.

According to warrants reported by WBTV, Dickens also admitted a fifth child, a one-month-old baby boy, had fallen ill and died shortly after moving into the home. Dickens allegedly buried his son’s body in a four-foot-deep hole without a marker; authorities have yet to find that grave.

Dickens told police he had placed the other four children’s remains in body bags purchased on Amazon before putting them in the trunk of his car, the search warrant documents revealed, and he had stopped driving the vehicle because it was not working.

A three-year-old son was found in the home unharmed when police were first called, and has since been placed in protective custody.

In December, state prosecutors announced they would be seeking the death penalty for Dickens, who faces four charges of murder. If Dickens is found guilty, his case will be automatically appealed, and if a death sentence is overturned, he will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.

A trial date has not yet been set, with the next court hearing scheduled for March 27.