This Is How A 13-year-old Hidden By Father Behind A Fake Wall For 4 Years Got His Mother To Save Him
Gregory Jean and his girlfriend Samantha Davis, were refused a bond by the court judge after they were arrested in Georgia. The couple had hidden Gregory's 13-year-old son in a secret compartment behind a wall in their home for four years. He was discovered by the police on Saturday.
The couple is accused of "false imprisonment, cruelty to children and obstruction of justice," according to ABCnews.com.The mother of the boy had reported to the Child Services that her son was missing in 2010, after he had visited his father. But only four years later, he was found in the compartment and was reunited with his mother on Nov. 29. "I just couldn't believe it," says Daniel Clay, Clayton County Police Department. The cops also took into custody three juveniles inside the house.
The bungalow was situated on Duke Court, in a southern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. From outside it looked neat and well-maintained, according to The National Post. Speaking to neighbours revealed some more shocking reports. The neighbours said that the boy had been "hidden in plain sight." He played with the nearby children and often did yard work. The stepmother, Samantha Joy Davis, 42, told everyone that he was being "home-schooled."
The boy managed to install a Magic Jack, a hidden app on a smartphone, and called his sister in Florida, informing her of his prison and accusing his father of beating him. She in turn told her mother, who called 911 and sent the police. Initially, the police could get inside the house and talk to the errant couple. But they could not locate the boy, who then sent another message outlining where he was hidden to his mother.
He was found behind a fake wall hidden behind a linen closet, within an "insulation area above the garage." When the police opened the area and asked the child to come forward, he was just horrified, "frozen with fear." He united again with his mother at 11 p.m. on Saturday. She smothered him with tears. "He just kept saying, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you,'" says Clay. The boy was overwhelmed that he had been rescued at last.
By Dec. 9, Jean, 37, and Davis, 42, will appear in court. The son is under the care of the Georgia Division of the Family and Children Services, who will guard his safety.