A mother of a missing 14-year-old begged for information about her whereabouts and organized search parties, but was herself arrested after the girl was found safe nearly a month later.
Many were relieved when Jashyah Moore was found safe on the streets of New York City Thursday after having been missing from her home in East Orange, New Jersey since Oct. 4.
Her mother, Jamie Moore, had put up flyers and started a GoFundMe account to help for the search for her daughter.
“I feel like somebody may have her against her will!” said Jamie Moore to the media.
“I love you! If you see this, I’m looking for you!” she said tearfully.
In a separate statement, Jamie Moore specifically denied that her daughter had ran away.
“She did not run away. She did not run away. She was abducted, OK. I don’t know who did it, but we looking for you,” she said. “Let her go. She’s 14. She has not lived.”
On Friday, the 39-year-old mother was arrested after police interviewed her over allegations from her daughter that she had been abused at home.
The 14-year-old said that it was the abuse that led her to run away from home, police allege.
Essex County prosecutors charged the mother with two counts of second degree child endangerment. The allegations include neglect and physical abuse.
“Obviously this was an extremely resilient and resourceful young lady and she decided she wanted to be someplace other than where she had been and she made it happen,” said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens.
The teenager was not reunited with her mother but instead was taken into the custody of the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency. Her 3-year-old brother was also taken into the agency’s custody.
Jashyah was found when someone spotted her in Harlem, but she initially denied that she was Jashyah Moore.
The GoFundMe account to help fund the search gathered more than $8,000.
Here’s more about the startling case:
Mother Of New Jersey Teen Who Went Missing Arrested youtu.be