Missing Baby Turned Over To DCF, Search For Teen Mom Continues

NEWBURYPORT (CBS) — A missing four-month-old boy at the center of a statewide search has been turned over to the Department of Children and Families by a member of his mother's family in Springfield, State Police say Tuesday afternoon. He is unharmed.

The search for 15-year-old Shantel Van Voorhis continues.

According to police, Shantel left DARE Family services in Newburyport with her son, Jacob Van Voorhis around 2:25 a.m. on Monday.

There have been two possible sightings of them since, one in Swampscott on a train to Springfield and another at a gas station in Springfield.

The 1998 Honda CRV that State Police were searching for in connection with the missing teen mom and her "endangered" son was also located in Springfield on Tuesday afternoon.

Newburyport City Marshal Mark Murray at a press briefing earlier on Tuesday said, "We've concerned for both of them, for both their safety and their health, if they are out there and they're listening: return please, we are here to help. You're not in trouble, we just want you to get back safely."

Shantel may be with Jonathan Heredia and has ties to Holyoke and Springfield.

Murray said at this point, no crime had been committed.

State Police said Jacob is in legal custody of the DCF and Shantel was allowed to live with him at the DARE facility.

They called him a "missing and endangered child" because "Shantel left without Jacob's antibiotic for an ear infection, and he is on special soy formula. It is unknown if the child is in a baby seat and she left his diaper bag behind."

Murray continued, "The mother basically just left with the baby without the proper essentials that you need to take care of a baby."

Police are also pinging her phone every 15 minutes but it appears to be off.

Anyone with information is asked to call Newburyport Police at 978-462-4411 or 911.

Follow @WJZ on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook