LOUDON, Tenn. — Six people are facing charges in connection to a 15-year-old who was missing for nearly a month in Loudon.
The teen was reported missing from his mother and stepfather's Loudon home on Sunday, Oct. 10, according to a post from District Attorney General Russell Johnson. He was found by law enforcement on Nov. 5, after an intensive search by the Loudon Police Department with assistance from the District Attorney General’s Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office, and many first responders and volunteers.
On Monday, Dec. 13, the Loudon County Grand Jury returned two indictments related to the case, according to the DA.
The first indictment charged both his mother and stepfather, Jennifer Silvey and Jeff Silvey, with child abuse and domestic assault.
The second indictment charged four individuals, Amy Chesnut, Teresa Chesnut, Sondai Russell, and Lena Rollins, with false report, tampering with evidence, harboring a runaway child, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The DA said a number of people had evidently assisted the teen in leaving his home and had been "harboring" him at various locations the entire time he was "missing."
Johnson also said these individuals knew law enforcement was spending "valuable time and resources" investigating the 15-year-old's disappearance and trying to determine what happened to cause him to leave the home.
All individuals charged in these indictments were arraigned on Monday, Dec. 20, by Loudon County Criminal Court Judge Jeff Wicks, according to the DA's post. Status hearings were set, and attorneys appointed or set to be retained by all defendants.
In October we talked to Jeff and Jennifer Silvey about their missing son. They gave few clues to their son's disappearance, saying they last saw him in the kitchen cleaning out his fish tank.
"He disappeared with his fish tank," Jennifer said.
According to neighbors, the boy was often seen doing chores outside the house. Jonathan Johnson said he thought something was off about the entire situation.
"It's just sketchy and scary at the same time," he said.
Neighbors said they would often the teenage boy doing chores outside.
"Doing chores outside I mean I'd talk to him. He's a really great kid. I mean he'd play with the kids across the street," Johnson said.
Several neighbors said if the boy wasn't playing with other neighborhood kids, he was doing chores outside or he was going house to house selling things.
"He was selling chocolates and he'd come over and talk to us a little bit," Johnson said.
Johnson also said the Silveys would sometimes leave the 15-year-old home alone.
"There was one day he was home and we told his parents, look if he's ever home alone he could always come over here and hang out with us. We have a play station and stuff for him to hang out," he said.
He said the couple didn't seem to be looking for their son while he was supposedly missing.
"There were some nights they'd be home and I've never really seen them leave that much and they'd talk about going to look for him," Johnson said.
Johnson would often go searching for the missing boy himself. "I went and looked at the high school track around there. Went out to the woods where they found his backpack because if it was my kid I'd be wasting gas," he said.
The Loudon City Police Department says the people harboring the teen at various locations knew that law enforcement was spending time and resources investigating his disappearance.
The advocacy center, Safe Harbor's Executive Director Maggie McNally said it's important to notify the police in a situation like this.
"Generally speaking if a child comes to you and discloses abuse, the very best thing to do is contact 911 or contact the department of child services," she said.
The Department of Children's Services said it is involved now and police said the case is still under investigation.