Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans’ 14-year-old son, Jace, was reported missing for the second time in two weeks before being found safely by police on Monday.
August Keen, the MTV star’s rep, told TMZ that Evans was unable to locate Jace for hours and called the police.
Jace had left the family’s North Carolina home on Monday, and his mother eventually contacted authorities when she couldn’t find him.
Police found Jace at a gas station 10 minutes’ drive from the family home, sources told the outlet, adding it was not immediately clear whether he was alone or with friends.
Jace is safe at home with his mother and husband David Eason, Keen told the outlet, noting that Jace “just wants more freedom as he gets older, and he’s just a typical teenager as a teenager.”
The latest: Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans’ 14-year-old son Jace was reported missing for the second time in two weeks before being found safely by police on Monday
Distress: August Keen, the MTV star’s representative, told TMZ that Evans was unable to locate Jace for several hours and called the police
Evans denied two weeks ago that Snapchat was a factor in finding Jace after he was reported missing on Aug. 15.
“My son wasn’t found ‘because of Snapchat,'” Oak Island, 31, a native of North Carolina, told more than 3.1 million followers on Instagram Stories 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 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 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, 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 employee, prompting the school principal to call 911 and report him missing at around 2:40 pm.
According to police, Jace “fled into the woods” after leaving the school, and was found safe at 5:45 p.m., the paper reported.
Police said a warning had been issued earlier in the day for a runaway youth. TMZ.
Details: The MTV personality said ‘there are a lot of rumors going around about what happened’ after a report that police used clues in the app to find Jace
‘Kids can act and rebel’: Speaking to TMZ, Jenelle claimed her son ran away after his phone was taken from him
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 away after his phone was taken from him due to problems at school.
“As a boy mom, kids can behave and rebel, as I’m sure most of us did as kids,” she told TMZ in a statement. “Jace… got in trouble at school, we decided to take his phone and then he decided to run away.”
Jenelle called Jace “a good kid” and said the situation wasn’t “everything that most families don’t get to deal with while raising kids,” adding, “This is a teen who was upset as a teen that we decided to take his phone away.”
The reality star has been venting her grievances with husband David Eason online lately, but insisted their feud played no part in her elopement.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with my situation with David, we don’t argue in front of our kids or fight in front of our kids,” she said.
Jace’s grandmother Barbara told TMZ that everything seemed fine with the teen when she last spoke to him Monday night.
Barbara also claimed that she tried unsuccessfully to check in with Jenelle on Tuesday.
‘We don’t argue in front of our kids’: Jenelle has been arguing online with her husband David Eason lately, but insisted their fight had nothing to do with her running away from him
Supportive: Jenelle called Jace “a good kid” and said the situation wasn’t “something most families don’t have to deal with when raising kids”
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 a decade after relinquishing parental rights to her mother.
“Words cannot describe how happy I really am. Our family is now complete! Thanks 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. We weekly at the time. “On Thursday, March 16, we officially signed the papers in court. It’s a done deal!’
Speak with E! News When 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.’
Family: 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. Pictured in LA in 2015
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. so she can 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 country. He loves riding his dirt bike and working on it lately. He wants to sign up for dirt bike races 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 around.”
Jenelle is one of the original stars of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant, which debuted on the channel in 2009 and followed a group of pregnant high school students 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.