Jenelle Evans’ son Jace says he ran away from home — for the third time — due to his stepdad David Eason’s alleged abuse.
According to a police incident report obtained by The Ashley’s Reality Roundup on Monday, October 2, Jenelle’s mother, Barbara Evans, told police that the 14-year-old called her and explained he was “hiding” from his stepdad, who Jace claims assaulted him.
The Teen Mom 2 alum, 31, reported her eldest son missing on Thursday, September 28, after he reportedly left their North Carolina home through a window in his third attempt at running away in two months. She advised authorities that she believed Barbara was “hiding” Jace.
“Made contact with Barbara who advised [Jace] was not at the residence,” the police report stated. “She advised that she had spoken to [Jace] earlier in the evening when he called from an unknown number and told her about being assaulted by David Eason and that he ran away and was hiding.” Us Weekly has reached out to Jenelle’s manager for comment.
According to the document, Barbara — who had custody of Jace for the majority of his life until Jenelle was granted custody in March — had to refuse her grandson’s request to pick him up due to “ongoing legal and custody issues.”
Jace was found on Friday, September 30, and was reportedly taken to the hospital.
“I just want privacy for me and my family right now. Jace has been located, he’s safe,” a visibly upset Jenelle told fans in a TikTok video she shared over the weekend. “I just want to keep my content away from the drama right now. I want to get back to making normal content, so if I don’t address certain issues, please don’t badger me for it. Thank you.”
Jenelle previously denied that Jace’s first disappearance had anything to do with her and her husband’s fighting. (In addition to Jace, whom she shares with ex Andrew Lewis, Jenelle is also mom of 9-year-old son Kaiser, whom she shares with ex Nathan Griffith and 6-year-old daughter Ensley with Eason.)
“Jace got in trouble at school, we decided to take his phone away and that’s when he decided to run off,” she told Us in August through a statement from her manager, August Keen. She added that her eldest son’s decision to run away had “absolutely nothing to do with my situation with David, we do not argue in front of our children or fight in front of our kids.”
Two weeks later, Jace was reported missing after Jenelle was unable to locate him on her property. He was found at a gas station 10 minutes away.
Eason, for his part, has a history of violence. In May 2019, one year after Jenelle called 911 and accused her husband of cracking her collarbone — for which no charges were ever filed — Eason shot and killed their dog Nugget for biting Ensley on the cheek. He and Jenelle temporarily lost custody of their children after the incident. The couple, who wed in 2017, split soon after, with Jenelle announcing her intention to file for divorce in October 2019.
“Things have been bad even when they looked good on the surface. David was on his best behavior during court and when he had to clean up and prove himself in order to get custody of the kids back,” a source exclusively told Us at the time. “But once it was over he was right back to his old self.”
Several months later, however, the pair reconciled.
“A lot of our disagreements were just bickering and arguing. To me, I felt like we can work through that, especially if we went to marriage counseling and we went to parenting counseling before we’d been to marriage counseling,” Jenelle exclusively told Us in 2021. “I’m just glad we got over it. Things are a lot better.”
Us broke the news in March that Jenelle was granted custody of Jace after nearly 14 years in Barbara’s primary care.
“My mom and I decided together to grant full custody back to me because we want to build our relationship back as mother and daughter,” she said in a statement. “Also, my mother agrees it’s time for Jace to be back with his siblings and living with a mother and father. She also thinks it’s important for Jace to be around a father figure to learn ‘boy things’ and have ‘men talk.’ She has seen the way David parents my children and she knows we’re able to handle it. We want to all get along for the sake of the children and like I said before, building back our relationship as mother and daughter.”
In recent weeks, Jenelle reportedly attempted to get a restraining order against her mother, though her request was denied.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
