A six-year-old boy who was missing for two months has been found safe after a stranger recognised him 2,000 miles away from his home in a supermarket. Jorge “Jojo” Morales was reported missing in August by his devastated mother, Yanet Leal Concepcion, after his father broke their custody agreement by not returning him home.
Jorge was eventually found in Canada, 2,000 miles away from his Miami home, by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), reports the Mirror. Officials looking for the missing child believed him to be in east Canada or Maine after a car belonging to his father, Jorge Morales, was discovered in Maine.
The FBI also found security footage from a Walgreens store which showed the child had been in Maine with his father. However, a sighting in another supermarket proved to be vital, with investigators stating a tipster spotted Jojo and his father at a Walmart in Moncton, Canada after seeing media coverage.
After officials located the child, Jorge Morales, 45, was arrested along with his mother, Lillian Pena Morales, 68. The recovered child's mother, Leal said: “I’m just so happy because my son is okay, I feared the worst.
“Every mother fears the worst and I’m just … I can’t, my body is like leaving my soul. I’m just so happy, I can’t stop crying.
“He asked me where I have been, because he doesn’t know, he’s very unaware to what’s going on.
“Thankfully, it’s a blessing in disguise that he is living with autism because he thought he was on vacation, and I told him the same. We are forever grateful [for the person who called the police].
“It takes courage to say something, and I know it does, and I hope they know that, thanks to that person, I’m going to see my son again.”
Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez said in a statement: “This is another example how local, state, federal, and international law enforcement, along with the United States and State Attorney’s Office coming together for the safety of a child and will continue to work together to fight the greater evil."
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