GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A woman is accused of dropping off a teen in Clay County and driving away without the intention of picking them back up, authorities said.
Tiffany Mejia, 40, was charged with tampering with evidence, interference with child custody and multiple felony drug offenses after she told law enforcement that she took the missing teen to the outside of an area in an unknown home, the Gainesville Police Department said in a Facebook post.
Authorities say they initially received a report on Friday about a missing 13-year-old boy who was last seen around 7 p.m. Thursday. With weather conditions being extremely cold, the Alachua County Sheriff's Office Aviation unit helped with the search for the teen throughout the holiday weekend in the Gainesville area, police said.
During a secondary search of the surrounding area where the teen was last seen late Thursday night; video surveillance was reportedly reviewed and showed the teen outside of a closed business and he appeared to be in pain.
Police say previous statements made by Mejia did not align with was what seen in the video and she then became a person of interest in the teen's disappearance.
On Sunday, the police department's SWAT team searched the 40-year-old's home and developed information to believe the teen was at one of two possible locations in Clay County, authorities said.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office was contacted for assistance and confirmed they found the teen and that he was safe and unharmed, police noted. GPD met with Clay County deputies to recover the teen.
"The Gainesville Police Department thanks the community, the FBI, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the many other individuals and organizations that worked together through the holidays to bring this child home safe," GPD wrote on the Facebook post.
Authorities also placed charges for child neglect and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for Tommy Stephens, 55, and Jamie Stephens, 43.
