South Florida boy, 6, reunited with mother 66 days after abduction

MIAMI — A 6-year-old boy from South Florida who had been missing since late August was reunited with his mother Tuesday night.

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Jorge “JoJo” Morales was escorted by authorities through Miami International Airport and ran into the waiting arms of his mother, Yanet Leal Concepcion, the Miami Herald reported.

“I missed you so much,” Concepcion said as she hugged her son.

The Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed on Sunday that the boy was found in Canada, WPLG-TV reported.

Canadian Royal Mounted Police detained the boy’s father, Jorge Gabriel Morales, 45, and his paternal grandmother, Lilliam Pena Morales, 65, according to a news release.

Morales’ father and grandmother were detained after a woman spotted the boy and his father in a Walmart in Moncton, New Brunswick, the Herald reported.

Concepcion, who is a nurse, got a call with the good news Sunday at about 12:30 p.m. EDT while she was at work, WSVN-TV reported.

“We are forever grateful that, you know, it takes courage to say something, and I know it does, and I hope they know that. Thanks to that person, I’m going to see my son again,” Concepcion told the television station earlier Tuesday.

Concepcion talked to the Walmart shopper who spotted the boy.

“I called her and we both started to cry,” Concepcion told WTVJ. “I just want to meet her.”

Concepcion went to an apartment in Miami-Dade County on Aug. 27 to get her son from Jorge Morales, according to the newspaper. Morales was supposed to return the boy to his mother the night before after losing his overnight visitation rights during a three-year custody battle.

However, nobody was at the apartment.

An Amber alert was issued on Aug. 29, WTVJ reported.

Morales, 45, and his mother, 69, likely will be charged with at least custodial interference when they’re returned to South Florida, the Herald reported.

Concepcion told the newspaper that she believed the boy’s father and grandmother had been planning the abduction for about a year.

“This is another example (of) how local, state, federal and international law enforcement, along with the United States and State Attorney’s Office coming together for the safety of a child and will continue to work together to fight the greater evil,” Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez said in a statement.

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