The teenage mother of a missing 15-month-old in Tennessee was arrested on Tuesday night on a false reporting charge, authorities said.
Megan, "Maggie" Boswell, 18, was taken into custody Tuesday night by the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office and charged with one count of false reports. According to the sheriff's office, Boswell allegedly gave detectives inaccurate information as authorities continue their search for her missing 15-month-old daughter, Evelyn Mae Boswell.
Evelyn was first reported missing to the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services on February 18 after family members became concerned that they hadn't seen the toddler in over two months. Megan, who has full custody of Evelyn, had been cooperating with authorities, but sheriff's officials said in a statement that she had provided investigators with a "number of conflicting statements" about her missing child.
"During the course of the investigation, Megan ‘Maggie’ Boswell provided detectives and agents with a number of conflicting statements. Further investigation revealed that some of the information provided by Megan Boswell was false," a statement from the sheriff's office stated.
The last time Evelyn was seen was on Dec. 26, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. However, Maggie and others connected to the missing toddler have given authorities conflicting dates on when they last saw her. Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy that the last independent person to have seen Evelyn was a babysitter last saw her on Dec. 10 or 11.
Evelyn's father, who is on active duty in the U.S. military, is stationed in another state and is reportedly cooperating with authorities. Two other individuals, including Megan's mother, Angela, 42, and her 33-year-old boyfriend, were questioned about Evelyn's whereabouts. They are currently being held on charges unrelated to the toddler's disappearance. Angela and her boyfriend were arrested and charged with possession of stolen property, as the vehicle they were found in had been reported stolen to authorities.
In an interview with WCYB, Megan Boswell said that she trusted her mother Angela to watch Evelyn and that she had gone to the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office for a lie-detector test, but that she'd been turned away because she is pregnant.
Megan Boswell is currently being held in the Sullivan County Jail on a $25,000 bond, the sheriff's office stated.
Evelyn is described as white, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink tracksuit with pink shoes and a pink bow in her hair. She is approximately two feet tall and weighs 28 pounds, authorities said. Anyone with information on Evelyn's whereabouts is being asked to contact the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office at (423) 279-7330, or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Photo: Sullivan County Sheriff's Office