Missing Juvenile Mother Found, Baby Turned Over To DCF
NEWBURYPORT (CBS) -- A missing four-month-old boy at the center of a statewide search has been turned over to the Department of Children and Families by a member of his mother's family in Worcester, Newburyport Police said Tuesday afternoon. The boy's mother, 15-year-old Shantel Van Voorhis, was found in Springfield late Tuesday.
According to police, Shantel left DARE Family services in Newburyport with her son, Jacob Van Voorhis around 2:25 a.m. on Monday.
Shantel is also now in custody of the DCF
Newburyport City Marshal Mark Murray at a press briefing earlier on Tuesday said, "We've concerned for both of them, for both their safety and their health, if they are out there and they're listening: return please, we are here to help. You're not in trouble, we just want you to get back safely."
State Police said Jacob is in legal custody of the DCF and Shantel was allowed to live with him at the DARE facility.
They called him a "missing and endangered child" because "Shantel left without Jacob's antibiotic for an ear infection, and he is on special soy formula. It is unknown if the child is in a baby seat and she left his diaper bag behind."
Murray continued, "The mother basically just left with the baby without the proper essentials that you need to take care of a baby."