Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans and her spouse David Eason are being investigated by Child Protective Services in North Carolina after her teen son Jace went missing for the third time in six weeks.
‘Jace is not at home and is currently in the custody of CPS, who are investigating,’ a source told The U.S. Sun on Monday after the 14-year-old fled from the family home Thursday, with Evans, 31, confirming he was safe on Saturday.
Jace is currently in CPS custody and has not been sent home to Evans and Eason, 35, a source told the outlet. A pair of law enforcement sources confirmed to the outlet that a CPS probe of the couple was ongoing.
A rep for Evans told the outlet that Jace was ‘okay’ and ‘going through the care process’ after the series of incidents in which he went missing, the most recent when he slipped out of a window on Thursday night.
‘It is standard protocol to evaluate the child’s mental health and this is part of his healing process,’ Evans’ rep told the outlet. ‘He was not harmed, and he did not harm himself.
The latest: Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans, 31, and her spouse David Eason, 35, are being investigated by Child Protective Services in North Carolina after her teen son Jace, 14, went missing for the third time in six weeks
Troubles: A source told The U.S. Sun on Monday that ‘Jace is not at home and is currently in the custody of CPS, who are investigating,’ after the 14-year-old fled from the family home Thursday. Eason and Evans were pictured in NYC in 2019
‘Jenelle and her family are asking for privacy and prayers during this time.’
The rep said they were not aware of a CPS probe against the couple, the outlet reported.
Evans on Saturday took to social media with a short update clip in which she confirmed her son’s safety, while making clear she did not want to discuss the situation over the platform.
‘Jace has been located – he’s safe – but that’s not the point of the video,’ Evans said. ‘I just kind of want to keep my content away from the drama right now; also, I want to say, I want to get back to making normal content.
‘If I don’t answer certain issues, please don’t badger me for it, thank you.’
TMZ reported police were called to Evans’ home at around 8 p,m. Thursday, when the reality star told officers Jace had left the home – which is surrounded by woods – and didn’t have a cell phone with him.
Police sources told the publication that Jace had been added to a nationwide database for missing persons.
Jace was subsequently relocated Friday, police sources told The U.S. Sun.
Update: Evans on Saturday took to social media with a short update clip in which she confirmed her son’s safety, while making clear she did not want to discuss the situation over the platform
Details: She said in the clip, ‘Jace has been located – he’s safe – but that’s not the point of the video’
In a police report obtained Monday by The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, police said Jenelle’s mother Barbara Evans said that Jace had ‘ran away and was hiding’ and had called her from an unknown number Thursday and told her ‘about being assaulted by David Eason.’
On Monday, Evans took to Twitter to deny that Eason’s behavior was a reason behind Jace’s going missing; and said that her mother Barbara had given authorities misleading information in regards to why Jace had run away.
‘This isn’t about David whether you want to blame him or not,’ she said. ‘My mom says a lot of untrue things lately to everyone about me but wanted me to have custody? Imagine what you don’t hear from my side.’
Evans said she had no idea why her ‘own mother is acting the way she is,’ as she feels Barbara is ‘now she’s using police to falsely report just trying to make us look bad as a family.’
Evans said that ‘there are multiple people involved in this situation and they know the truth, and so does God.’
She tweeted that Barbara hadn’t made any attempts at visiting any of her children since July. (Evans shares Jace with ex Andrew Lewis and is also mother to son Kaiser, nine, with ex Nathan Griffith; and daughter Ensley, six, with Eason.)
‘I’m so confused at this moment and wish I had one parent that was stable enough to talk to,’ Evans said, adding the hashtag, #ToxicParents.
In response to a Twitter user who said they believed the words of Jace and Barbara over her or Eason, Evans said, ‘Well my husband is still a free man, so…. I def don’t need your approval.’
Clapback: Evans took to Twitter Monday to deny that Eason’s behavior was a reason behind Jace’s going missing; and said that her mother Barbara Evans had given authorities misleading information in regards to why Jace had run away
In August, Evans appeared on TikTok to share clues about why Jace ran away for the second time in two weeks, before he was found safe by police days before.
The media personality said her son’s actions were ‘being pinned against’ her, and added that she’s been on the receiving end of ‘a lot of hate’ and ‘a lot of comments.’
The MTV vet kept her statements ambiguous but referenced finding inappropriate content on the teenager’s Snapchat account, and called the platform a ‘bad’ app.
‘I will say one thing: Monitor your kids’ phones,’ she suggested to her audience. ‘Because, you know, I monitor my kid’s phone, and sometimes they get in trouble. Sometimes they get it taken away for consequences to their actions, right?’
‘But sometimes they don’t take that too lightly, and sometimes kids get really mad about their phones if you take them away,’ Evans added.
Evans compared the relationship some teens have with their phones to ‘addiction.’
She was vague as she also mentioned that ‘there was a big reason why’ her mother Barbara Evans gave her full custody of Jace in March.
‘My son has been having a hard time for the past two, three years,’ she noted before adding, ‘None of this has gone public because we’re trying to keep his privacy — me and my mom.’
Dancing around details of the teen’s mental health, she made it clear: ‘[Jace] is fine, he’s healthy and he’s safe.’
Jace had left the family’s home in North Carolina and his mother eventually contacted the authorities when she couldn’t find him.
Third time: TMZ reported police were called to Evans’ home at around 8 p.m. Thursday, when the reality star told officers Jace had left the home and didn’t have a cell phone with him
Family drama: Jenelle regained full custody of Jace earlier this year after she gave custody of him to her mother Barbara Evans shortly after she gave birth to him
Jenelle’s rep August Keen told TMZ, noting that Jace ‘just wants more freedom as he gets older, and is just a typical teen being a teen.’
Evans previously denied that Snapchat was a factor in authorities finding Jace after he was first reported missing August 15.
On August 16, The Sun reported that the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina received a tip from a 911 caller about Jace’s whereabouts, noting that their child had been following him on the app.
Jenelle regained full custody of Jace earlier this year after she gave custody of him to her mother Barbara Evans shortly after she gave birth to him.
Jenelle told the outlet that her son ran off after his phone was taken from him following troubles at school.
‘As a boy mom, kids can act up and rebel as I’m sure the majority of us all once did as kids too,’ she told TMZ in a statement. ‘Jace … got in trouble at school, we decided to take his phone away and that’s when he decided to run off.’
Jenelle called Jace ‘a good kid’ and said the situation was not ‘anything that most families don’t deal with while raising children,’ adding, ‘This is a teenage boy being a teenager mad that we decided to take his phone away.’
