Walgreens surveillance video spots missing Miami-Dade 6-year-old boy and fugitive dad
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The abduction and return of 6-year-old JoJo Morales
A contentious divorce and custody fight between Yanet Leal Concepcion and Jorge Morales reached its nadir when Morales kept their 6-year-old son Jorge “JoJo” Morales III in violation of court orders. Father and son were taken into custody in Canada two months later.
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Surveillance video from a Walgreens in Maine shows 6-year-old JoJo Morales with his father, who is accused of absconding with his son from the Miami area in a custody dispute with the boy’s mother.
Jorge Morales is considered a fugitive by the U.S. Marshals and the FBI.
The video was released this week by the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The nonprofit organization said the video is from Aug. 29. Miami-Dade court records say that’s the same day an emergency motion by JoJo’s mother, Yanet Concepcion of Miami-Dade, was granted, giving her sole parental responsibility of JoJo “for contempt” by Morales, who wasn’t supposed to keep JoJo overnight.
After the U.S. Border Patrol in Maine found an SUV in September, and law enforcement agencies said the vehicle contained some of JoJo’s belongings, investigators suspected Jorge Morales and his mother, Lilliam Peña Morales, were in Maine or Eastern Canada with JoJo.
READ MORE: Reward offered for father, grandmother of missing Miami-Dade child
The video confirms that they were in Maine, at least on Aug. 29. That’s four days before an Amber Alert was issued for Jorge “JoJo” Morales.
“They were buying toothbrushes and envelopes. And then they went to a Dollar Tree or a dollar store and bought him cars,” Concepcion told the missing children’s center in a comment about the surveillance video. “My son is obsessed with cars.”
About JoJo
JoJo has been diagnosed with autism. Concepcion says he can express himself, but doesn’t hold conversations the way most kids his age do. As with many kids dealing with autism, he flaps his arms in anger or excitement. He is three feet tall and weighs about 60 pounds.
The lowdown on JoJo’s parents’ divorce
Miami-Dade online court records say there’s been ceaseless contention since Concepcion filed for divorce from Morales on Jan. 9, 2019. Last November, Concepcion filed an emergency motion “for contempt and to suspend time-sharing with the father,” a motion that was denied, then eventually granted.
On Sept. 26, all Morales’ motions were withdrawn, one of which was scheduled to be heard by a general magistrate on Oct. 3. Morales filed “to reinstate father’s overnights” with JoJo and to find that his son wasn’t autistic, “based on the reports of two neurologists and three speech pathologists.”
Concepcion has said she believes Morales, who on Oct. 28, 2021, sold the Homestead home he owned with his mother, planned the disappearance for a year.
Thursday marked two months since the Saturday morning Concepcion went to Morales’ apartment to pick up JoJo. Instead of bringing JoJo back to Concepcion’s place on Friday, Morales had kept JoJo overnight, in violation of the current custody arrangement.
Concepcion found an empty apartment.
Wanted
Thursday also marked one month since the U.S. Marshals offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Morales and his mother, JoJo’s grandmother, both wanted for custodial interference. Now, with boosts from other sources, including Crime Stoppers of Miami-Dade and the Keys, the reward is up to $25,000, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said.
Jorge Morales, 45, stands about six feet tall and weighs about 185 pounds. He was a registered nurse before letting his license become delinquent in July.
Lilliam Peña Morales, aka Lilliam Boyssen, Lilliam Boissen and Lilliam Peña, is 68 years old with brown hair, brown eyes, stands about five-foot-four and weighs abound 175 pounds.
To help
Anyone who knows anything about the whereabouts of JoJo, Jorge Morales or Lilliam Morales should contact Crime Stoppers of Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys either online or at 305-471-8477 (TIPS); the U.S. Marshals Service at 866-865-8477 or online; or the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children at 800-843-5678.
This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 1:47 PM.
