Boy Missing For 4 Years Found Behind False Wall In Georgia, Reunited With Mother

RTXZDVL — Police found a boy who'd been missing for four years behind a false wall in a home in Jonesboro, GA. on Friday. He was reunited with his mother Saturday. Reuters

In a news report short on details but long on mystery, a boy who had been reported missing four years ago was found inside a home in Jonesboro, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, Friday night, reports NBC. The boy was able to phone his mother, who aided the police in finding him. He was reunited with her on Saturday.

Clayton County police received a call on Friday requesting a welfare check be made on a house in the area, but when they arrived the five people in the home said they did not have any connection to the boy.

The police left, but returned to do a more thorough check after receiving a second call. It was then that the boy called his mother, who was able to give the police officers information that led them to find him hidden behind a false wall in the home.

The five people in the home, two adults and three juveniles, were charged with obstruction, false imprisonment and cruelty to children, reports NBC. More charges may yet be on the way, and police are have not released the names of the five people involved.

The boy's disappearance appears to have been part of a custody dispute, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After a visit with his father in 2010, the father refused to return the boy to his mother, she reported. Neighbors said they saw the boy outside, sometimes playing, sometimes doing yard work, and were told that he was homeschooled.

Although the mother reported the boy missing to child welfare authorities, the Journal-Constitution reports that she did not report him as a missing person to police.