EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — An East Brunswick woman has been charged with obstruction after detectives found her missing 17-year-old son hiding in a crawl space at her home, police said.
Jennifer Buckley was arrested and charged with obstructing the administration of law, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1A, East Brunswick police said.
The case began Sept. 15 around 7:47 p.m., when the boy's father called police to report that his son had not shown up for a scheduled 6 p.m. drop-off at his home. Buckley told police at the time that she could not locate her son, saying he was upset and had said he did not want to go to his father's house. She also raised concerns that he might be a danger to himself, police said.
The teen, previously identified by police as Leyton J. Buckley, was entered into the National Crime Information Center database as a missing person, and patrol officers and detectives devoted significant resources to searching for him in the days that followed.
During the investigation, detectives identified discrepancies in the information they had received and returned to Buckley's home for further investigation. They then searched the house and found the teen hiding in a crawl space in the basement.
Police determined the teen had remained at the home the entire time he was reported missing, and that Buckley had helped him conceal his whereabouts from law enforcement, which had previously announced he'd been found safe on Thursday.
"Whenever a juvenile is reported missing, particularly when there are concerns for that child's safety, our officers take the report seriously and commit the resources necessary to locate them," East Brunswick Police Chief Frank LoSacco said in a statement.
"I commend the patrol officers, detectives, and other personnel who worked diligently to locate this juvenile and ensure his safety. Providing false or misleading information to law enforcement undermines those efforts and unnecessarily diverts officers and resources away from members of our community who may need immediate police assistance."
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