Missouri Boy Missing for 5 Months Found in Attic Crawl Space

The five-month-long hunt for a missing Missouri boy who is the subject of a custody dispute has ended after sheriff’s officials found the 6-year-old hidden in an attic crawl space.

The Camden County Sheriff’s office said in a news release that officers found Braedence Jones and his mother Aubrey Ferguson on Tuesday in the crawl space at a home in rural Laclede County in southwest Missouri.

Authorities say the crawl space was nailed shut but have not suggested the child was trapped inside.

Ferguson and her boyfriend, Woodrow Ziegler, have been arrested.

Braedence was returned to his biological father, who has court-ordered custody of the boy.

Ferguson was charged in August with child abduction.

Camden County officials say more charges are being sought against Ferguson and Ziegler.