The mother and aunt of a 14-year-old boy reported missing from New Haven on Halloween are facing kidnapping charges after smuggling him to Massachusetts despite a court order to stay away from the teen, according to police.
Police said the boy’s mom, Jackeline Reyes-Cruz, 32, and his aunt, Yesenia Reyes, 30, both of New Bedford, Massachusetts, devised a plan to kidnap the boy after Reyes-Cruz was stripped of custody rights.
The teen’s legal guardian told police she had been granted custody in 2013 and that Reyes-Cruz had been ordered to stay away from the boy and his brother. The court order also required the boy’s whereabouts to be hidden from his mother, according to police.
Police said Reyes-Cruz sent the boy a cellphone and used it to coordinate the kidnapping. She directed him to delete their text messages and asked him to meet her outside his New Haven home the afternoon of Oct. 31.
Authorities issued a Silver Alert and said they were concerned the boy hadn’t been taking his regular medication.
Social media and cellphone pings led police to New Bedford, where the boy was found safe, according to police.
Reyes-Cruz and Reyes were each charged with second-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit risk of injury to a minor and first-degree custodial interference.
