Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans says Snapchat was NOT a factor in police finding her son Jace, 14, after he was reported as a runaway

Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans denied Snapchat was a factor in finding her 14-year-old son Jace after he was reported missing on Tuesday.

“My son wasn’t found ‘because of Snapchat,'” the 31-year-old Oak Island, North Carolina, told more than 3.1 million followers on Instagram Stories on Wednesday when she asked the public for privacy for her family.

The MTV personality said, “There are a lot of rumors about what happened.”

On Wednesday, 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 followed him on the app.

The outlet reported that authorities were able to track down Jace’s whereabouts “because of his Snapchat location,” noting that he was “hiding in the trees behind his school.”

Evans concluded her statement on Wednesday by saying, “I would like to take this time to give my son some privacy and I appreciate the public would do the same.”

According to a police report reviewed by The Sun, Jace left the school on foot after an argument with a school staff member, prompting the school’s principal to call 911 and report him missing at around 2:40 p.m.

Jace dove into the woods after leaving school, according to law enforcement officials, and was found safe at 5:45 p.m., the outlet reported.

A runaway minor warning had been put out earlier in the day by sheriff’s deputies, according to TMZ.

Jenelle regained full custody of Jace earlier this year after handing over 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 problems at school.

“As a boy mom, kids can act and rebel like I’m sure most of us did as kids at some point,” she told TMZ in a statement. “Jace… got into trouble at school, we decided to take his phone and then he decided to run.”

Jenelle called Jace “a good boy” and said the situation was not “everything most families don’t have to deal with when raising kids,” adding, “This is a teenage boy who’s a teen nut that we decided to take his phone away.”

The reality star has been venting her grievances online with husband David Eason lately, but has insisted their feud played no part in her running away from him.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with my situation with David, we are not arguing in front of our children or fighting in front of our children,” she said.

Jace’s grandmother Barbara told TMZ that the teen seemed fine when she last spoke to him Monday night.

Barbara also claimed that she tried unsuccessfully to check in with Jenelle on Tuesday.

She claimed that her daughter would not communicate with her and told her to leave her alone.

Jace’s father is Jenelle’s high school friend Andrew Lewis. Jenelle is also the mother of son Kaiser, nine, with ex-boyfriend Nathan Griffin, and daughter Ensley, six, with David.

Jenelle officially regained full custody of Jace in March, more than 10 years after she relinquished parental rights to her mother.

“Words cannot describe how happy I really am. Our family is now complete! Thank you mom,” she captioned the video of her signing the papers in March.

Jenelle fought for custody of her oldest son for years amid her own battle with drug addiction and a number of arrests.

“My mom and I have decided to give me back full custody because we want to rebuild our relationship as mother and daughter,” Jenelle said. Us weekly at the time. “We officially signed the papers at the courthouse on Thursday, March 16. It’s a done deal!’

Speak with E! News at the time she regained custody, Jenelle said her relationship with Jace had improved significantly.

“My relationship with Jace is closer than ever and things are going much better,” Jenelle said. “I feel that being with his family makes him much happier. Our family wouldn’t be complete without him.’

She also revealed that the new arrangement has helped in part to heal her strained relationship with Barbara, saying, “My relationship with my mom has gotten a little better, but honestly she’s still a little controlling… I think it will take time for her to get used to this change.’

Jenelle revealed that the drive to get custody stemmed from a belief that her son “needed a change.”

“We also didn’t like the crowds he interacted with, so now he’s in the countryside. He loves riding his dirt bike and working on it recently. He wants to sign up for dirt bike racing in the future,” she shared.

Jenelle also shed light on Jace’s relationship with stepfather David.

“David teaches him to hunt, fish, fix dirt bikes, or give Jace dating advice,” she said. “Jace needed a father figure and I can see how happy Jace has one.”

Jenelle is one of the original stars of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant, who debuted on the network in 2009 and followed a group of pregnant high school girls and their boyfriends.

Jenelle was 17 when Jace was born, her entire pregnancy was documented on the show.

The Teen Mom alum started dating her current husband, David Eason, in 2015 and they got married in September 2017.

Jenelle is also stepmother to David’s two children from previous relationships, Maryssa and Kaden.