Jahon Fuller, a 16-year-old from Douglasville, Georgia, allegedly went missing from his family home on Oct. 27, causing an investigation into the teen’s disappearance. Fuller, who reportedly has autism, was found after the FBI located him in a Westchester County, CBS New York reported.
He had been lured allegedly by a man that Fuller met through Playstation’s private message feature.
Investigators could trace his location through an Instagram message he sent to his brother following his disappearance.
The FBI tracked a missing teen with autism from Georgia to a home in an upscale Westchester County suburb. The suspect allegedly lured the boy through private messages on PlayStation. @AielloTV reports. https://t.co/Es3V9d3pbu
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) November 5, 2021
On Tuesday, Nov. 2, Fuller was found hiding in the suspect’s closet. According to CBS New York, Lashawnda Collins, the teen’s mother, said about the discovery, “When the FBI knocked on his door, he told him to go hide in a closet, and my son did it.”
The home reportedly belonged to Mark Valente, a 26-year-old who allegedly drove over 900 miles to pick Fuller up in Georgia before traveling with the teen back to New York. Miles away from home, the teen had his phone thrown away by Valente, who then purchased a new one for him.
After Valente began chatting with Fuller through the video game system, Collins claimed that the man tried to convince the 16-year-old that his parents didn’t care about him. According to CBS New York, the mother stated, “Saying that I don’t love him and I would sell him for $2. That right there, that’s evil. He was trying to groom my child for something. Maybe to lure other kids,”
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After being found and returned home, Fuller reportedly claimed that he and Valente played video games together and went out to get food from a local restaurant. However, when asked how it felt to be back, he replied, “It feels better than being with him,” CBS New York reported, adding that he “was wrong” about Valente being his friend.
According to Fox 5, Valente has since been arrested in New York, and will soon be extradited to Georgia to face criminal charges.
