Missing Child Alert Issued for Miami-Dade Child With Autism – NBC 6 South Florida
Florida officials issued a missing child alert Wednesday for a Miami-Dade child who has not returned home since the weekend.
The mother of 6-year-old Jorge “Jo Jo” Morales said her ex-husband picked up the child from her home Saturday morning.
The father never returned the child back home, violating court orders, Miami-Dade Police said in a news release on Monday.
“I would have never thought something like this would happen to me,” Yanet Concepcion told NBC 6 earlier this week. “It’s like the biggest nightmare a mother can have.”
On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement activated a missing child alert and said the child may be in the company of a man who is also named Jorge Morales.
When the child didn’t come home, Concepcion went to her ex-husband’s place to pick him up.
“Everything was gone. Everything was gone from his apartment,” she said. “His phones were off. His mom’s phone was off.”
Police said they previously didn’t classify the case as a kidnapping since the father has partial custody of the child.
Concepcion said the 6-year-old has autism, which makes her worry about his disappearance even more.
“He’s the smartest person I know,” she said. “Obviously, he’s only 6, but he knows everything.”
Six-year-old Morales is 3 feet tall and 50 pounds with brown hair and eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray t-shirt, gray shorts and black shoes.
His father, 45 years old, is 6 feet tall and 185 pounds with brown hair and eyes.
Miami-Dade Police said the child was also with his paternal grandmother at the time of his disappearance. The car they were in is a 2006 gray Ford Expedition XLT, with Florida tag CSIU53.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Police at 305-596-8176 or 911.
