Noah Anderson Update: Police Search All Night For Missing Florida Boy Taken By Mentally Ill Mother

Noah Anderson, a 12-year-old boy missing since Thursday, was found safe in his mother’s home in Jacksonville, Florida, early Friday, Baker County Sheriff Joey Dobson said at a news conference. The mother, Stacey Sidell, 36, was found some time after her son. Anderson was returned to the home of his grandparents with whom he resides. Police said Sidell has mental-health issues and may pose a threat to the boy: She was taken in for evaluation, according to WJXT-TV in Jacksonville.

Anderson had gone with his parents to his father’s home in Waycross, Georgia, WJAX-TV in Jacksonville reported. The family was traveling back to Florida in separate vehicles for a scheduled custody hearing in family court in Duval County Thursday. But Sidell’s silver Toyota Camry disappeared on the way back with Anderson inside it, and they didn’t show up at the hearing.

Sidell does not have legal custody of Anderson and is not allowed to have contact with the boy. Anderson has been in custody of his grandparents while his mother and father go through legal proceedings. Florida police said Sidell is delusional, suffers from has mental health problems and may pose a threat to Anderson, WJAX reported.

“We believe without any question the child is at risk with the mother. We know from our information that we have received from the past of the mother, that she couldn’t have custody of the child and the grandparents have had [custody] for a number of years,” WJXT quoted Dobson as saying before the boy was found. “I know these grandparents, and I know the child, and he is in danger. We believe because she is mentally unstable to have the child, and she is not allowed to have him in any way, any kind of custody.”

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement had issued a missing-child alert for the boy, but canceled it early Friday, saying the case “has been resolved,” WFTS-TV in Tampa reported.