On Friday, Madeline Jones and her parents, Cassandra Jones and Roland Jones were sentenced for their roles in custodial interference.
Madeline Jones was sentenced to three years of supervised probation for Custodial Interference. Cassandra and Roland were sentenced to three years of supervised probation for Conspiracy to Commit Custodial Interference.
On June 16, 2017 Roland called police to report that his daughter, Madeline, and her son were missing from their home in Mesa. The Jones’ reported they were concerned about their daughter due to a recent divorce from her son’s father and conveyed a belief that the ex-husband had been abusive to both their daughter and grandson.
During the investigation, officers were able to determine that Madeline had purposefully run away with her son in an attempt to keep him from his father who shared joint custody. Investigators were able to use phone records and social media that indicated that Madeline had been searching “how to disappear” and had attempted to change both her and her son’s appearance.
Despite numerous attempts by the family to mislead authorities, Madeline and her son were found safe in California. The family’s calculated efforts to mislead authorities came at a considerable cost to the Mesa Police Department which was forced to expend time and resources investigating the family’s bogus claims.
Roland and Cassandra solicited donations of concerned community members under the false pretense that those funds would be used to help find Madeline. Those victims will be entitled to restitution as part of the sentencing.