EAST ORANGE, N.J. — The mother of a New Jersey teenager who went missing for a month is accused of physical abuse and neglect, authorities said.
Jamie Moore, 39, of East Orange, New Jersey, was arrested and charged on two counts of second-degree endangerment of a child, WNBC reported. Her two children, a 14-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, have been placed into the custody of child protective services, the television station reported.
Moore’s daughter was found safe in New York City on Thursday after she went missing outside an East Orange deli on Oct. 14.
BREAKING: Police have arrested the mother of the missing NJ teenager. Jamie Moore is accused of physically abusing and neglecting her daughter. pic.twitter.com/5bQ9ww7uv1
— Kristin Thorne (@KristinThorne) November 12, 2021
Cox Media Group is no longer naming the teenager because she is now allegedly the victim of a crime.
“The young lady appears to have run away, and she did not want to make herself known to anyone,” acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said at a Friday news conference, before Jamie Moore’s arrest was announced. “She seemed to be more so at ease where she was.”
According to WPIX, the teen left her home around 7:30 a.m. on the day she disappeared to pick up some groceries for her mother. The girl lost the EBT card that she had used, and her mother had reportedly told her to retrace her steps in hopes of finding the card, according to People.
Moore previously told the television station that she waited an hour for her daughter to come home. When she did not return, Moore went searching for her.
>> Missing New Jersey teen is found safe in NYC
The girl was found in the Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem about a month after she disappeared, even though she had cut her braids, WABC reported.
Police officers in New York talked to the teen, who said she stayed in several places in New Jersey before arriving at a shelter in Brooklyn, the television station reported. It was unclear how the girl was able to travel from New Jersey to New York City.
She was taken to a local police precinct and ultimately told officers she had been unhappy at home.
“Obviously, this was an extremely resilient and resourceful young lady, and she decided she wanted to be someplace other than where she had been,” Stephens II told WPIX.
On Wednesday, a reward of $20,000 was offered for information about the girl, WABC reported. Moore said during a news conference on Tuesday that she believed her daughter had been taken against her will, People reported.
“She was abducted,” Jamie said. “I don’t know who did it, but we’re looking for you.”
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