New Jersey mom claimed her 17yo son was missing, but when police finally found him, she was the one who ended up being arrested

A New Jersey woman who told police that her 17-year-old son was not at her house after his father reported him missing has been charged with obstruction after the boy was found alive and well. The teen was reportedly found hiding in a crawl space in his mother’s home.

Jennifer Buckley allegedly told police that her son was not at her house and that she was unable to find him when she was questioned, reports The New York Post. The 17-year-old boy was first reported missing by his father on Tuesday evening after he wasn’t present at his scheduled drop-off.

Buckley also reportedly told police that her son did not want to go to his father’s home and also expressed her concerns that her son may be a danger to himself.

An extensive search for the boy was soon launched by the East Brunswick Police Department. “Patrol officers and other department personnel devoted significant resources to the search, while detectives conducted a follow-up investigation in the days that followed,” a statement from the department reads.

However, the authorities would later discover a number of discrepancies in Buckley’s story after entering the teen’s details into the National Crime Information Center.

The missing boy was found safe and sound

Police would eventually search Buckley’s home and reportedly found the 17-year-old hiding in a crawl space in the basement. There was no evidence to suggest he was harmed. Officers did determine that the teen had been in the crawl space the whole time and that his mother had helped to keep him hidden.

Jennifer Buckley was subsequently arrested and charged with obstructing the administration of law. Meanwhile, the news seemingly came as little surprise to the boy’s father, Matthew Buckley, who told NBC News that he had been confident his son had been hiding at his mother’s the whole time. “Honestly, I wasn’t too worried,” he told reporters, “I knew she was pulling some BS like she always does.”

East Brunswick Police Chief Frank LoSacco said that reports of missing juveniles are taken seriously by the department, “particularly when there are concerns for that child’s safety,” adding that the department would “commit the resources necessary to locate them.”

LoSacco also commended the “patrol officers, detectives and other personnel who worked diligently to locate this juvenile and ensure his safety.” However, he noted that the misleading information provided by the mother “undermines those efforts and unnecessarily diverts officers and resources away from members of our community who may need immediate police assistance.”

(featured image: East Brunswick Police Department, Facebook, mdfriendofhillary, CC BY-SA 2.0.)

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