6-year-old boy with autism reunited with his mom 2 months after he went missing in Florida
Jorge "Jojo" Morales, a 6-year-old boy with autism, was reunited with his mother at a Miami airport on Tuesday night. He had been missing for more than two months before someone spotted him at a Walmart in Canada over the weekend.
CBS Miami captured the moment Morales was reunited with his mom, Yanet Leal Concepcion, at Miami International Airport. With a huge smile on his face, the young boy yelled "Hi, mommy" as he ran into her arms.
"I missed you so much," Leal Concepcion told her son as she held him.
Morales' father, Jorge Gabriel Morales, and grandmother, Lilliam Pena Morales, were arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after someone spotted Jojo at a Walmart in New Brunswick, about 182 miles east of Maine.
The boy went missing in late August after his grandmother picked him up for a court-ordered visit, as the parents had shared custody.
When the boy's father did not return Jojo, an Amber Alert was issued and investigators found out that Morales had been planning a move for a year, CBS Miami reported.
Private investigator Joe Carrillo found that Morales had secured a cabin in Canada and that he wanted to live "off the grid."
Leal Concepcion was worried about her son's safety well before the incident took place. She previously told CBS Miami that she grew concerned about her son's safety after Jojo told her they were "going to move somewhere where there are windmills" and asked her to come with him.
After her son returned to Florida on Tuesday, Leal Concepcion told CBS Miami's Peter D'Oench that "there are no words to describe how happy I am."
She also thanked the person who called in the tip about her son.
"I owe this person my son's life and I can't say thank you enough to this person," she said. "It took courage for that person to do this and thoughtfulness. That person thought about making the right decision for my family."
Jojo's father and grandmother are charged with interfering with custody and concealing a minor, contrary to a court order.