Boy missing over 2 years found living in rural home with mom, boyfriend, IN cops say
_fitted.png "A missing Indiana boy was found in a rural home near Bloomington with his mother and her boyfriend, officials say.")
A nearly two-year search for a missing boy is over after authorities found him at a home in rural Indiana, police told news outlets.
Steven Bryan, 5, was 3 years old when he disappeared from Mooresville in the summer of 2022, triggering a long-standing investigation and a statewide alert, WPTA reported. But the boy was found safe Tuesday, July 9, living with his mother and her boyfriend at a house near Bloomington, according to Mooresville police.
Mooresville is a roughly 20-mile drive southwest from downtown Indianapolis and about a 35-mile drive northeast from Bloomington.
Investigators have long suspected that the boy’s mother, Deborah Bryan, and her boyfriend, Caleb Blevins, were involved with the disappearance, WXIN reported. The boy was last seen in June 2022, riding in a Toyota SUV with Blevins, who Bryan was already involved with at the time, according to the outlet.
Bryan and Blevins quickly made themselves hard to find — they canceled their phones and closed their bank accounts, police told the station. Investigators continued working the case, but the couple had seemingly vanished, just like Steven, police told the outlet.
Ultimately, it was state troopers assigned to the case three months ago who discovered where the trio was hidden, police told WBIW. Officials didn’t say what evidence led them to the home, which was about 10 miles north of downtown Bloomington, but they were confident Bryan was there.
When the troopers knocked at the door, nobody answered, so they came back with a warrant and found Steven, his mother and her boyfriend inside, Mooresville Police Chief Kerry Buckner told the outlet.
“This may have just been where they moved to because when you’re on the run you don’t want to stay in one place too long,” Buckner said.
Deborah Bryan was arrested on a charge of interfering with custody, WPTA reported, adding that charges may be brought against Blevins, and possibly others, as the investigation unfolds.
This story was originally published July 10, 2024 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Boy missing over 2 years found living in rural home with mom, boyfriend, IN cops say."