A 17-year-old East Brunswick boy reported missing for days was found hiding the whole time in a crawl space in his own mother's basement, and now that mother, Jennifer Buckley, faces a criminal charge of obstructing the administration of law. Police say the teenager, identified as Leyton J. Buckley, never actually left the home even as officers combed the area and coordinated with neighboring towns to find him.
The case began on September 15 at 7:47 p.m., when the boy's father called East Brunswick police after his son failed to show up for a scheduled 6 p.m. custody drop-off, according to Daily Voice. Police had earlier said the teen was last seen leaving his residence on Hillwood Road around 2:30 p.m. that day, according to Patch. As reported by Fox News, Buckley reportedly told police her son did not want to go to his father's home, and that she could not find him at her house.
A Region-Wide Search That Never Left the House
Buckley reportedly told officers she feared her son might be a danger to himself, a claim that pushed East Brunswick police to enter the teenager into the FBI's National Crime Information Center database, per Shore News Network's report. That NCIC entry instantly shares missing juvenile records with law enforcement agencies nationwide, and police issued a description of the teen as 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds while searching for potential connections in nearby Cranford, according to TAPinto's reporting. East Brunswick police devoted significant resources to the search, per Fox News, with detectives conducting follow-up investigative work in the days that followed.
That follow-up work is what unraveled the case. Investigators uncovered discrepancies in Buckley's statements, and detectives ultimately searched the basement crawl space of her home, where they found her son had been the entire time, according to the same report from Newport Dispatch. Police determined the teenager was never harmed, and officials say Buckley helped conceal him in the crawl space while the search played out around them, per Fox News.
Chief Cites Diverted Resources in Announcing Charge
Buckley was arrested and charged with obstructing the administration of law. In a statement following the arrest, East Brunswick Police Chief Frank LoSacco said false or misleading information given to law enforcement diverts officers and resources away from people who need immediate assistance, according to Shore News Network. LoSacco also commended the patrol officers, detectives and other personnel who worked to locate the juvenile, per Fox News, and said officers take missing juvenile reports seriously and commit whatever resources are necessary to find them.
LoSacco has led the department since 2019 and was elected in June 2025 as the 4th Vice President of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, a role that places him in line to become the association's state president in 2029, according to Patch. East Brunswick police headquarters operates out of 1 Jean Walling Civic Center Drive in Middlesex County, per the township's own listing.
What the Obstruction Charge Could Mean
Under New Jersey's obstructing-the-administration-of-law statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1A, the offense is generally a disorderly persons offense carrying up to six months in jail, but it becomes a fourth-degree crime punishable by up to 18 months in prison when it obstructs a criminal investigation, according to Justia Law. East Brunswick police emphasized in their release that the charge against Buckley remains an accusation and that she is legally presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court, according to Shore News Network.
