An SUV belonging to the parents of the Michigan teen who allegedly shot up his school earlier this week was reportedly found parked in Detroit late Friday night as local police and the feds continued to hunt for the fugitive couple.
Jennifer and James Crumbley’s black 2021 Kia Seltos SUV was discovered in a residential area of the Motor City, which is about 50 miles from their Oxford home, sources told Detroit’s WVID.
The couple went missing just hours after they were each charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with their son Ethan Crumbley’s deadly attack.
The apparent runaways took out $4,000 from an ATM in Rochester Hills, about 10 to 15 miles from Oxford on Friday, and also turned their cellphones off, meaning authorities can’t ping their whereabouts, law-enforcement sources told CNN.
A reward of up to $10,000 was being offered for information leading to the capture of Jennifer and James each, federal agents announced Friday night, as they released “Wanted” posters of the pair, which said they said could be armed.
Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald blasted the parents as “irresponsible” for not immediately turning themselves in.
“The Crumbleys are at large because they are continuously irresponsible. They promised to turn themselves in and did not,” McDonald said in a statement. “We have been in constant communication with sheriff’s office investigators, and we are confident that the Crumbleys will be apprehended.”
The charges for Jennifer and James — which experts said were very rare in such a case — stem from having purchased a gun for the teen in the days ahead of the shooting and for failing to take action when alerted to Ethan’s distressing behavior, according to prosecutors.
The 15-year-old allegedly opened fire on his Oxford High School classmates and teachers Tuesday, killing four and wounding seven. He was charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of terrorism causing death, and was being held without bail.
Attorneys for Jennifer and James said earlier Friday that the couple had left town of their safety and were not trying to elude law enforcement.
“Crumbleys left town on the night of the tragic shooting for their own safety,” lawyers Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman said in a statement, adding they would turn themselves in.
“On Thursday night we contacted the Oakland County prosecutor to discuss this matter and to advise her that James and Jennifer Crumbley would be turning themselves in to be arraigned,” the statement said. “Instead of communicating with us, the prosecutor held a press conference to announce charges.”