A Florida teenager who, along with his grandmother, had been reported missing earlier in the week has been detained at the United States border with Canada.
Logan Mott, 15, was reported missing after he and his grandmother Kristina French, 53, were supposed to pick up his father and his father’s girlfriend from a Jacksonville area airport, CBS News reports. He was detained late Friday.
The body of an individual believed to be French was discovered in a shallow grave in the backyard of Mott’s father, who is her son, on Friday.
Logan Mott, 15, was detained at the US-Canada border late on Friday. He and his grandmother Kristina French, 53, were reported missing in Florida earlier this week
Police issued an arrest warrant for Mott earlier on Friday on charges of auto theft. French’s Dodge Dart was missing from her home in the Jacksonville area. Guns were also missing from the home of Mott’s father, who is French’s son
When Mott and French did not pick up the teenager’s father on Wednesday, the couple returned to their home via Uber and found it looted.
The couple also noted that guns were missing from a gun safe, News4Jax reported.
Police who later investigated the scene said they found evidence pointed to ‘possible criminal violence’ in the home.
They also discovered remains in the home’s backyard that they said might be the body of French. Authorities have not yet officially identified the body.
Police searched French’s home, which was also ransacked. Her car, a 2015 Dodge Dart, was also missing, the Florida Times-Union reports.
Authorities previously issued an arrest warrant for Mott on charges of auto theft.
Wanted posters for the teenager branded him ‘armed and dangerous’.
They also said they hoped to speak to him to try to piece together the chain of events.
He was detained near Buffalo, New York.
The boy’s mother, Carrie Campbell-Mott, said in a statement: ‘We are relieved he is safe and in custody and we just ask for everyone to give us time to sort out what happened.
‘That no matter what, Logan is our child and we love him and are standing by him to help in any way.
‘We want to find out what happened to Kristina and we need time for that to happen.’
Police say they want to question Mott about the chain of events that led to his grandmother’s disappearance and the ransacking of her home and the home of her son (who is Mott’s father)
She had previously issued pleas for any knowledge of her son’s whereabouts.
She wrote on social media that he was dependent on insulin and expressed worry that he might not have access to it.
Campbell-Mott said she had last spoken to her son on Sunday, November 19 and had last communicated with French on Tuesday, November 21.
Regarding the conversation with Logan, she told News4Jax: ‘There just wasn’t any indication that there was anything wrong, nothing. It was just a normal conversation.’
The boy is a student at Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville.