A 6-year-old South Florida boy named Jorge “JoJo” Morales, who had been missing since August, has been located.
The boy was located in Canada, about 2,000 miles from his home in Miami-Dade County, Florida, according to the authorities.
The boy was discovered unharmed and in good health, according to Miami-Dade police.
Reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the recovery and safe return of Jorge “Jojo” Morales. Call (754) 703-2000 or https://t.co/xm8ISwpO7q. https://t.co/Zisako6gId He may be in Maine or eastern Canada. pic.twitter.com/53OXgn4gyO
— FBI Miami (@FBIMiamiFL) October 18, 2022
Jojo, who has autism, vanished on August 27 after his father, Jorge Gabriel Martinez, violated the terms of a custody arrangement by refusing to give him back to his mother.
Late in August, when Jojo didn’t come home, Yanet Leal Concepcion, Jojo’s mother, visited her ex-husband. She found that it had been thoroughly cleaned.
“Everything was gone. Everything was gone from his apartment,” she said. “His phones were off. His mom’s phone was off.”
BREAKING NEWS 🚨
— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) October 30, 2022
The missing juvenile, Jorge “Jojo” Morales, has been recovered in Canada. We want to thank our local, state, federal, & international law enforcement, along with the @SDFLnews & @KathyFndzRundle for the collaboration on this case. pic.twitter.com/ajTkmAHCQ9
A missing child alert was issued, and the FBI offered a reward of $10,000 for information leading to Jojo’s location.
Surveillance footage located Jojo and Martinez in Maine several days after his disappearance.
“It came to the point that we knew they were in Canada. That was based on some search dogs and then we started to put the information together,” Private Investigator, Joe Carrillo said.
Concepcion, however, heard very little for two months until a tip that Martinez and Jojo had been seen shopping at a Walmart in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, recently.
“Somebody called and somebody said something and I’m just so grateful for that person because it just took that,” Concepcion said. “Spreading the news, spreading the word and people wanted to help.”
“I’ve never been this happy,” she said. “This is only going to be topped by the moment I hug him. Nothing compares to this feeling, I’ve never had this feeling this happiness, I am just so blessed right now I don’t even know what to say.”
Concepcion expressed her happiness at the fact that her son, for the most part, is unaware of what transpired.
“I am glad my son is not aware of what is going on because this is a trauma. I got to speak to him and I told him I was waiting for you to come back from vacation baby! He was just like yes momma.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police detained Martinez as well as his mother, Lilliam Pena Morales.