Human remains have been found in the search for Blake Deven and London Deven, who vanished years ago and haven't been seen since, police said.
Skeletal human remains have been found in the search for Blake and London Deven, who vanished years apart from the same family, police said.
Blake Deven, who would be 17, hasn't been seen since 2022, according to Fayatteville police in North Carolina. London Deven, who would be 27, disappeared four years ago, authorities said.
Fayatteville police announced Friday that partial remains had been found by investigators in the mysterious case. The FBI is also assisting in efforts to find the two people, who were adopted as foster childen by the same woman, according to reports.
That woman has not been charged in connection with the case.
The human remains have been sent to the North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner's office, police said. The identification process could take weeks or months or prove inconclusive, authorities said.
Police did not say where the skeletal remains were found, but did note they were not found at the Deven family's last known residence in Fayatteville, which was searched by authorities last week. The home's current occupants are fully cooperating with investigators, police said.
Investigators learned by accident about the disappearances while interviewing the boy's biological family in an unrelated case, authorities said.
The relatives told police they hadn't seen Blake Deven in years, police said. Following up on that information, officers learned of another missing "relative," who they identified as London Deven.
"These are unusual missing person cases. Our investigation didn't start with a 911 call. Blake and London have been missing for years," said Fayettville Police Chief Kemberle Braden at a recent press conference.
Both are considered endangered, authorities said.
London's biological mother told WRAL-TV she is praying that the remains don't belong to her daughter.
“All these years I thought she didn’t want to see me. Now I find out she’s missing,” the mother said. “You see it on the news and never think, ‘Oh, it’s going to happen to me.’”
The mom said she hasn't seen her daughter in more than a decade. She was taken into foster care as a young teen, following abuse allegations that her birth mother denies.
Blake Devin's birth mother, Felicia Chandler, told the station she, too, lost custody of her child to foster care following abuse allegations, which she denies.
"Somebody, please help me. Please help me," the mother said. "How can a child be missing for two years, or even a second?"
Anyone with information about Blake Deven or London Deven is asked to call the FBI at 800-225-5324 or the Fayetteville Police Department tipline at 910-578-2697.
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