NYC mom who claims missing autistic son doesn't exist has tattoo of boy's name on her arm: cops

"Little Jacob Pritchett is still nowhere to be found after he was reported missing from mother Jacqueline Pritchett's NYCHA apartment on Howard Avenue in Brownsville in October, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Friday. "We brought the mom in to speak to her," Kenny said. "She tells us that she is barren [and claims] she does not have a child named Jacob, although she has a Jacob tattoo on her arm," he revealed."

"In the early stages of the investigation in the fall, cadaver dogs sniffed out the Brownsville unit and detected blood both on the refrigerator and on a mattress near the dumpsters outside but no sign of Jacob, the police official said. Determined investigators also sifted through trash at a waste management plant in Greenpoint and even traveled to the High Acres Landfill in upstate Rochester for any traces of Jacob, according to Kenny."

"A total of 2,920,360 pounds of raw garbage was gone through by the NYPD and the New York State Police, unfortunately yielding negative results," the chief said. The last confirmed sighting of Jacob was on April 2 when a property manager saw him, according to Kenny. And earlier in 2025, Jacob waved from a window as his aunt spoke with his mother outside, the chief said."

Eleven-year-old Jacob Pritchett, who is autistic, was reported missing from his mother Jacqueline Pritchett's NYCHA apartment in Brownsville in October. The mother has denied having a child and claimed she is barren, despite a tattoo of Jacob's name on her arm. Cadaver dogs detected blood inside the unit and on an outdoor mattress, but searches produced no sign of Jacob. Investigators processed 2,920,360 pounds of garbage and searched multiple sites, including a waste plant and an upstate landfill, with negative results. The last confirmed sighting was April 2, and there are no school records for Jacob.

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