A missing Florida teen was detained at the Canadian border on Friday after a woman, likely his grandmother, was found deceased in a shallow grave in her backyard.
CBS News reports that 15-year-old Logan Mott, of Neptune Beach, and his grandmother, Kristina French, 53, were reported missing after they failed to pick his father and his father’s girlfriend up from the airport on Wednesday. The couple later took an Uber back to their Neptune Beach home on Seagate Avenue, where they found it pillaged with several guns missing from the safe.
“The front door was wide open, and the house had been gone through and the weapons were missing,” the teen’s mother, Carrie Campbell-Mott, told News4Jax.
According to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office director Ron Lendvay, the Neptune Beach Police Department and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office began an investigation and determined that “possible criminal violence” occurred inside the home. Shortly after, detectives found a lifeless body buried in a shallow ditch in the back yard of the home. Although she hasn’t yet been positively identified, authorities said the victim’s description matched that of French.
#LoganMott is wanted for Auto Theft and is a person of interest in the death of #KristinaFrench. 2015 silver Dodge Dart with Florida tag DLLT42. Hair is like picture on left. Armed and dangerous. We believe he is in the NE USA. Seen yesterday in PA. Call 911 if you see him. pic.twitter.com/fcF0r1Gs3c
— Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIO) November 24, 2017
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a missing child alert on Mott, while his mother said the teen was insulin-dependent and pleaded for his safety and return. Authorities noted that since guns were taken from the home, they considered the teen armed and dangerous.
On Friday, authorities detained Mott at the Canadian border after he tried to enter the country close to Buffalo, New York. During a Friday news conference, authorities announced that the teen was initially spotted close to Pennsylvania on Thursday, driving what appeared to be his grandmother’s Dodge Dart.
Police detained Mott on suspicion of driving a stolen car. He isn’t yet named as a suspect in his grandmother’s murder, although this could change after authorities make a positive identification on the victim’s body.
According to his mother, Mott was a Sandalwood High student and French was a therapist who worked with autistic children. Campbell-Mott claimed that her son had issues adjusting to a new school but she felt the problems were “normal teenage moments.”
“He’s had some problems over the last couple of years. It’s just been a tough time for him, transitioning from one school now to high school, and he’s in the early college program, and that’s really intense.”
The story is still developing. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Logan Mott and Kristina French/Facebook]
