Even as authorities released more details Monday surrounding the captivity of a 13-year-old Jonesboro boy, they conceded the case continues to create more questions than answers.
Officers said they found the boy, who was reported missing four years ago by his mother, shortly after midnight Friday huddled in a dark crawl space between the attic and garage of his father’s Duke Court home. His name was not released.
The boy’s mother, who lives in Orlando, Fla., asked Clayton County police to check on the 13-year-old boy after she received texts from him saying he had “been physically assaulted by his stepmother,” the police report said.
Authorities said the father, stepmother and three teenagers initially denied knowing the boy.
After the family said there was no 13-year-old boy in the home, police left but returned. This time, the boy was on the phone, texting his mother. He told her his location.
There, the police found the boy “physically shaking,” his voice trembling and his mouth bloodied, according to the police report.
“The child is safe,” Clayton County Police Chief Greg Porter said at a Monday afternoon press conference. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions. We’re still investigating the incident.”
The police report noted “fresh and old bruises across the front of his legs.” The boy told police his stepmother, Samantha Joy Davis, 42, had hit him with a wooden stick. He also told police after they left the first time, she instructed one of her sons to “get him.” The teenager allegedly punched the boy in the face and threw him down the stairs.
The boy’s father, Gregory Jean, 37, and Davis were arrested along with the three teenagers in the house. Even though the boy was found in a crawl space, he appeared to share a bedroom with the other kids in the home. The boy used a Magic Jack device to text his mother about his situation, Porter said Monday.
Jean, Davis and the three juveniles were booked with child cruelty, obstructing police and false imprisonment. Jean, a U.S. citizen from Haiti, and Davis remain in custody. They go to court Dec. 9. Davis is reportedly on probation for a 2004 child cruelty case involving one her biological sons.
Over the weekend, the 13-year-old boy was reunited with his mother, who came from Florida. She had not seen him since she sent him to visit his father in Georgia four years ago. Although the mother is still in Georgia, the boy remains in state custody. The mother told Clayton police she initially reported the boy’s disappearance to child services instead of police.
“It was very gratifying,” Officer Joanne Southerland said of the rescue. Southerland, who has worked numerous years on cases involving missing children, had advised Officer Daniel Day to return to the home that night. She accompanied Day.
During Monday’ press conference, Porter was hit with a barrage of questions, many of which he declined to answer, saying he didn’t want to compromise the investigation.
Neighbors in the well-manicured cul-de-sac said the boy has lived in plain sight during the six months the family has been in the community. He was often seen working in the yard. Last week, neighbor Julie Pizarro said she saw him line the driveway with track lights, string Christmas lights on trees in the yard and hang a Christmas wreath on the front door of the family home.
“My son played with him a few times,” Pizarro said Monday, standing in her front yard across from the house where the boy was found. “He seemed shy, but he didn’t indicate there was any issues or he was being held against his will.”
Pizarro said she “spoke a few words” to the boy known as “Junior.” Pizarro said Davis told her the boy was being home schooled. She said the family appeared friendly, and the stepmother even invited her family to their home for a Halloween party. The Pizarros didn’t attend. When Pizarro saw police cars crowded in the cul-de-sac Friday night she feared the worst.
“I was horrified that something had happened to the family,” she said. “You never know what goes on behind closed doors.”
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