Joy for Miami Mom After Missing Son With Autism Is Found Safe and Alive in Canada

Jorge Morales Jorge "JoJo" Morales Lilliam Pena Morales Yanet Concepcion

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Nov 02, 08:17 pm

Photo: (Photo : DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)

A mom from Florida is feeling extreme relief after her six-year-old son with autism was found safe and alive in New Brunswick, Canada after two months of searching. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Jorge "JoJo" Morales was found in Moncton, New Brunswick, following a tip called into cops. Someone saw the kid's 45-year-old dad Jorge Morales in a Walmart store there and recognized him from media reports.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced on Sunday, October 30, that they had arrested Jorge Morales in Moncton and his 68-year-old mom Lilliam Pena Morales, who is JoJo's paternal grandma, in Saint-Paul, New Brunswick, a community that is about a half-hour drive north of Moncton.

Both Jorge and Lilliam are facing custodial interference charges back in the United States. Yanet Concepcion, JoJo's mom, told NBC6 South Florida in an interview following the Canadian police announcement that she can't wait to hug her son.

Search for missing kid spanned 2,000 miles

The search for JoJo included an Amber Alert as well as a $10,000 FBI award for information. It spanned 2,000 miles, with the search starting in Miami-Dade, Florida, and ending in Canada.

Joe Carrillo, a private investigator who was working with Yanet to find her young son, said that a miracle happened yesterday. He explained during a Monday interview with NECN, that he expected the child to be returned by authorities to Miami either Monday night or Tuesday morning.

According to Carillo, the professionals were getting close to JoJo but not close enough. He noted that the person who called in the tip about Jorge played an important role in expediting the investigation and closing the case before the cold weather sets in. Carillo added that he was surprised how far Morales had taken his family members into Canada.

He said that they were preparing to hunker down for the winter. He believed that Jorge was already in the process of building an off-the-grid cabin in a place that would have been difficult for cops to immediately locate.

Concepcion grateful to tipster

The arrests ended the two-month-long search that started after Jorge did not return his son JoJo to Yanet's home after a scheduled visitation, according to Local 10. That could also result in additional charges for both Jorge and Lilliam.

The Miami-Dade Police said that those charges may be filed after the two of them is extradited back to the United States. Now that Concepcion's son has been located, there is one more person that she would like to find and that is the one who called in the tip about Jorge to the cops.

Carillo issued a statement to the unknown tipster, saying that Concepcion insists that she and her son meet you. Carillo said they need to know what they did for that child, adding that they are good human beings.