A grim case unfolds in Brooklyn where the NYPD, joined by New York State Police, are scouring the whereabouts of 11-year-old Jacob Pritchett, who has alarmingly been missing since September. In a report by PIX11, the mother of the child is currently detained at Rikers Island, clutched by a Brooklyn Family Court warrant for her failure to produce her son.
The urgency in finding Jacob heightened when a computer-generated image was released this past Friday, projecting the young boy’s current likeness. As part of the intensive search, an upstate landfill near Rochester has been scoured, revealing no traces of the boy, despite discarded items from Brooklyn sometimes ending up at the High Acres Landfill in Perinton, N.Y.
Triggered by an inquiry from the Administration for Children’s Services on October 3, about three weeks after the initial disappearance, police ventured to the family's Brownsville home on Howard Avenue. Jacob was not found, and the apartment was described as unkempt, which led to the hospitalization of the mother for evaluation.
Meanwhile, ABC7NY reports, that the situation at the apartment raised further suspicions when an NYPD K-9 cadaver dog indicated the presence of human blood in the refrigerator, prompting officials to await a search warrant for a more comprehensive investigation. The ACS had initially been called on reports of child abuse, with the mother denying the existence of a child, however, a birth certificate listing her as the mother was recovered by the agency.
With the police still piecing together the unsettling puzzle, neighbors have surfaced with claims that sightings of the boy have been sparse over the years, indicating that Jacob, who has autism, "has been missing for several 'weeks'." A neighbor characterized the environment in the apartment building by recalling an instance where he heard the mother yell, narrating to ABC7NY, "Yelling, it seemed like she was talking to somebody." Concerns have grown as officials uncovered that the apartment also lacked electricity at the time of their search.
The investigation remains active and law enforcement continues their efforts to unravel the truth behind Jacob's disappearance.
