patching...
Breaking: Lt. Gov. Tim Murray to Resign »
Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

Arrest Made In Disappearance Of Tewksbury Teen

Anthony McNeil has been found alive and unharmed by Tewksbury with help from many area departments, including Wilmington.

 

The biological sister of Anthony McNeil was arrested in connection with the Tewksbury teen's disappearance this week.

Elenie M. Vazquez, 22, of 82 Brick Kiln Road, Apt. 203, Chelmsford, has been charged with misleading a police officer during an investigation and with custodial kidnapping.

Anthony, 14, was reported missing by his father, Dennis McNeil, Thursday, June 7, at around 8:30 p.m. Anthony had called his father at work that afternoon and told him he was walking to the Livingston Street fields and that he could be picked up at 5:30 p.m. Dennis McNeil made several trips to the fields between 5:30 and 8:30 without being able to locate Anthony before finally calling the police.

On Friday, police released a photo and a description of Anthony through a CodeRed alert to residents and to local news outlets. Several Wilmington officers, including Police Chief Michael Begonis, headed up the search efforts in Tewksbury looking for McNeil.

According to Tewksbury Police, a resident called dispatch on Friday at around 6:45 p.m. and reported that a young man fitting Anthony's description was walking along Pleasant Street. Tewksbury officers quickly responded to the scene and reported that Anthony had, in fact, been found.

After being debriefed by investigators, Anthony was reunited with his family.

Police did not provide details on where Vasquez and Anthony had been during the time he was missing or how the two of them had gotten together.

In a press release, Tewksbury Police Chief Timothy Sheehan thanked the public for their assistance and detailed the law enforcement manpower that had been utilized in the search for Anthony.

"The search and simultaneous investigation involved a multitude of Officers from the Tewksbury Police Department, the NEMLEC SWAT/RRT (including the K-9 Unit, the Mountain Bike Unit, and the ATV Unit), the NEMLEC IMAT Unit (including the Mobile Command Center), the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, the Commonwealth Fusion Center, the Metro-LEC Child Abduction Response Team, the Tewksbury State Hospital Police Department, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Massachusetts Missing Children Clearinghouse (housed by the Massachusetts State Police), and the Chelmsford Police Department," said Sheehan. "Special assistance was provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Additional support for calls for service throughout the entirety of the critical incident was provided by the Andover Police Department, Billerica Police Department, Lowell Police Department, and Wilmington Police Department."

Related Topics: Anthony McNeil, Wilmington Police, and tewksbury police

Leave a comment