A 6-year-old boy from South Florida named Jorge “JoJo” Morales, who had been missing since August, has been found.
The boy was found in Canada, which is about 2,000 miles away from his home in Miami-Dade County, Florida, where he lives.
Miami-Dade police said, “The boy was found in good health and unharmed.”
Jojo has autism and hasn’t been seen since August 27, when his father, Jorge Gabriel Martinez, didn’t give him back to his mother as agreed.
When Jojo didn’t come home at the end of August, his mother, Yanet Leal Concepcion, went to her ex-husband’s house.
“Everything had disappeared. “His apartment was empty,” she told him. His phones weren’t working.
The FBI put out a missing child alert and offered a $10,000 reward for information that led to Jojo.
Days after he went missing, surveillance footage showed that he and Jojo were in Maine.
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
“Eventually, we found out that they were in Canada. “Some search dogs told us that, and then we started to put the pieces together,” said Private Investigator Joe Carrillo.
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BREAKING NEWS 🚨
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— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) October 30, 2022
Eight children who were missing and in danger were found in New Orleans, and 18 sex offenders were caught.
But Concepcion didn’t hear much for two months. Then, recently, someone told her that Martinez and Jojo had been seen shopping at a Walmart in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Concepcion said, “Someone called and said something, and I’m so grateful to that person because it only took that.” “People wanted to help when the news got out, and the word got out.”
She said, “I’ve never been this happy before.” “This will only be better than this when I hug him. Nothing beats this feeling. I’ve never been this happy before. I’m so lucky right now that I don’t know what to say.
Concepcion said that her son doesn’t know what happened, making her very happy.
“I’m glad my son doesn’t know what’s happening because it’s terrible. I talked to him and told him, “Baby, I’ve been waiting for you to get back from vacation!” He just said, “Yes, mom.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police took Martinez and his mother, Lilliam Pena Morales, into custody.
There’s a happy ending, thank goodness. Thanks to everyone who helped and those who saw Jojo and spoke up! You saved the life of this boy.