SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. — UPDATE 2/26/2020 – (WBIR) – There is an active search going on in North Carolina related to a missing Tennessee girl as her mother sits behind bars for making repeated false statements about her missing child that has interfered with the investigation.
A statewide AMBER Alert was issued for Evelyn Boswell on Wednesday, February 19. The TBI initially reported she hadn’t been seen since Dec. 26, but Sullivan Co. Sheriff Jeff Cassidy said the last sighing investigators could verify was actually Dec. 10 or 11.
“That was verified by someone who has not lied to us,” Cassidy said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Right now, the Catawba Fire Department in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, is assisting in the search of an area that includes a lake. Sheriff Cassidy confirmed there was a search there related to Evelyn’s disappearance but couldn’t elaborate on what instigated it.
Cassidy said despite all of the twists and turns this investigation has taken, they are still operating on the assumption that Evelyn is alive.
“We hope and pray she is alive,” he said.
Evelyn’s mother, Megan Boswell, was arrested and charged with false reporting Tuesday night.
“Every time we talk to her, her story changes. every single time,” said Cassidy, and that’s made an already difficult investigation even tougher.
“We were already behind the 8-ball when she was reported missing,” he said, because of the time that had elapsed. The first few hours after a child goes missing is usually the most critical time in the investigation.
Court papers obtained by WCYB show that Boswell initially told investigators that Evelyn was with her father, Ethan Perry, who is in the U.S. military and stationed in Louisiana.
She later told the media that Evelyn was with someone she trusted but she was afraid to say who because she was afraid they’d disappear with her daughter.
Boswell also told the media that she had been asked to take a polygraph test but she couldn’t because she was pregnant.
“She was never asked to meet us for a polygraph. We don’t even have one,” Cassidy said. The TBI does have the capability, but Cassidy said it was not requested that they set that up.
As to whether Boswell is pregnant, Cassidy would not comment because of medical privacy issues.
Cassidy expressed frustration that Boswell was feeding a lot of inaccurate information to the media and the public via social media.
“We have to work on probable cause, not assumptions or gut feelings. We need relevant, sufficient evidence,” he said, before they could take any action like a search warrant or an arrest.
There is currently a $59,850 reward for information leading to Evelyn.
Cassidy, while being frustrated at the social media firestorm created by this case, still praised the public for the outpouring of support.
“Community has been outstanding,” he said.
He knows people would like to help more, maybe in an active search for Evelyn, but without specific information about a location, it just simply wasn’t realistic at this time. However, if they learn about a specific location, that could change.
Evelyn is 24 inches tall and weighs 28 pounds. She also has blonde hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a pink tracksuit, pink shoes and a pink bow.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of Evelyn, please call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
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The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office gave a briefing Wednesday after arresting Megan Boswell for giving false reports in the case of missing, 15-month-old Evelyn Boswell.
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(WBIR) – Court papers reveal how police say Megan Boswell lied about her missing 15-month-old baby Evelyn.
Those papers say she initially told police the baby was with the father, Ethan Perry. Police said she stated she was supposed to meet him last Wednesday at the Ingles store in Colonial Heights to exchange custody.
But Perry is on active duty with the military, stationed in Louisiana, and did not have Evelyn. Megan Boswell was arrested and charged with false reports Tuesday.
Megan Boswell appeared on video from jail for arraignment Wednesday morning in Bristol Sessions Court. Her preliminary hearing was set for March 2.
Her mother, Angela Boswell, is also jailed on car theft charges related to the investigation.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office will hold a news conference on the case at 1:30 p.m. in Blountville. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Evelyn, please call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
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2/25/2020 (AP) — The mother of a 15-month-old Tennessee girl whose disappearance prompted an Amber Alert said her mother took her toddler to Mendota, Virginia.
Megan Boswell told WJHL-TV on Monday that her mother took Evelyn Mae Boswell to a campground. The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office said a search of that campground didn’t find the girl.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a news releasethat the toddler’s grandmother is “believed to have information”regarding her whereabouts.
The girl was reported missing Feb. 18, but was last seen inDecember.
Authorities said they are trying to determine why the disappearance was not reported sooner.
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2/25/20 – (AP) — Two people remain in custody after sheriff’s deputies in North Carolina located a vehicle that law enforcement authorities in Tennessee were searching for in connection with the disappearance of a 15-month-old girl.
William McCloud and Angela Boswell will be taken to northeastern Tennessee’s Sullivan County after agreeing Monday to be extradited from North Carolina.
Lt. Logan Kerr with North Carolina’s Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office says they were arrested Friday on fugitive warrants unrelated to the toddler’s disappearance.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says they are “believed to have information” regarding the whereabouts of Evelyn Mae Boswell, who was last seen Dec. 26.
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UPDATE 2/24/2020 – The TBI has released home videos of 15-month-old Evelyn Boswell in hopes it will help to locate the Sullivan County girl.
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2/21/2020 – The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued a statewide AMBER Alert for 15-month-old Evelyn Boswell from Sullivan County.
Evelyn Boswell is 24 inches tall and weighs 28 pounds. She also has blonde hair and blue eyes, and was last seen wearing a pink tracksuit, pink shoes and a pink bow.
The sheriff’s office was notified on Tuesday by the State of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. Evelyn “was last seen by certain family members near the end of November 2019 and the first of December 2019.”
The TBI said the child was reportedly last seen on Dec. 26, 2019 and wasn’t reported missing until Tuesday, Feb. 18.
The child’s mother and father are involved in the investigation, according to WCYB.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of Evelyn Boswell, call 911, the TBI at 1-800-TBI FIND, or the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office at 423-279-7330,
The FBI is also assisting in the search.
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(SULLIVAN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE) – The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office is requesting the public’s assistance in the investigation of a missing toddler.
On Tuesday afternoon, February 18, 2020, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office received a State of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services referral in reference to a child that had not been seen by certain family members in approximately two months.
Investigators with the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Children’s Services immediately began an investigation. It has been since discovered that the child / infant, Evelyn Boswell, age 16 months, was last seen by certain family members near the end of November 2019 and the first of December 2019. Evelyn is a white female with blue eyes weighing approximately 28 pounds and approximately 24 inches tall.
This is an active investigation where law enforcement agencies are seeking assistance from the community to help locate this child. The child’s mother, Megan “Maggie” Boswell, has been involved in the investigation along with the father, Ethan Perry, who is active duty in the military, stationed in Louisiana.
Please contact the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office at (423) 279-7330 in reference to any information the public may have in regard to this missing child.
The Sheriff’s Office is being assisted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.