PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — An 8-year-old Vancouver boy who had been missing since June 2022 was safely recovered in Missouri on Friday, according to the FBI Seattle Division.
Authorities said FBI agents in Kansas City, following a lead from FBI Seattle, located Breadson John in Jasper County, Missouri and placed him in the custody of social services. Washington Child Protective Services will pick up John Kansas City and bring him back to Washington.
“Breadson’s recovery would not have been possible without the combined efforts of the Vancouver Police Department, FBI Kansas City and the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “We are relieved at this outcome and how quickly we were able to resolve it.”
The boy was reported missing on June 17, 2022, when law enforcement conducted a welfare check, which was initiated by members of the community. Detectives tried to contact multiple family members to determine if John was with family or was missing, according to Vancouver police.
Officials said family members did not provide investigators with information about John’s location. John’s grandparents, Masterino Machuo and Refoela Refalopei, were John’s last known guardians and persons of interest in the investigation and were charged with custodial interference in Dec. 2022.