A missing persons case that stretched from New Jersey to Connecticut has reached a safe conclusion. Brayden Morrissey and Dominic Diliberto, both 14, have been located and returned home, according to Montville Township police, closing out a tense weekend search that began at a North Jersey train station.
The case started Thursday night when the two 14-year-olds and a third teen, 17-year-old William Connolly, left an undisclosed location in Montville Township, a Morris County community about 30 miles west of New York City. Police initially launched an intensive search using K-9 units and drones before realizing the boys had left the area entirely, shifting the effort to a formal missing persons investigation.
The trio was spotted at the Denville Train Station around 5:30 p.m. Friday. Investigators later learned the boys had traveled north on the rail system, surfacing the next afternoon at a train station in Stamford, Connecticut. When transit police made contact with the group there, Connolly was taken into protective custody, but Morrissey and Diliberto ran from officers before they could be detained.
That escape triggered a renewed search effort focused specifically on the two 14-year-olds, with police noting the boys appeared to be moving farther from home. Montville Police Chief Andrew Caggiano had stressed throughout the search that there was no indication the teens posed a danger to themselves or others, explaining that the urgency stemmed from their age and their status as missing minors rather than any suspected wrongdoing.
By Saturday evening, authorities confirmed all three boys had been recovered. Police said Stamford-area law enforcement located Diliberto and Morrissey roughly three hours after they fled, and all three teens were safely returned.
Caggiano said throughout the search that police remained in close contact with the boys’ families. Officials have not detailed why the teens left Montville or what prompted their journey across state lines, and it remains unclear when or if further information about the circumstances will be released.
