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Mother of missing N.J. teen charged with child endangerment

Nov. 13 (UPI) -- A New Jersey mother whose teen daughter was found safe after going missing for nearly a month has now been charged with child endangerment, prosecutors said.

Detectives arrested Jamie Moore, 39, of East Orange, N.J., on Friday, and charged her with two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement posted to Facebook.

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The charges included allegations of physical abuse and neglect.

Moore had previously called on the police and the public to help her find her 14-year-old daughter, who was missing for about a month after disappearing on Oct. 14, WCBS-TV in New York City reported.

Moore was adamant that her daughter was not a runaway, WABC-TV in New York City reported.

Her daughter was found safe in Harlem on Thursday night where she was hiding after running away from home, according to prosecutors.

The New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency removed Moore's daughter and 3-year-old son from her custody.

Neighbors told WABC they felt misled, but also felt relief since they feared the worst.

"I was scared that we might have been walking past her, like, you know, abducted by someone and hurt and in one of these abandoned buildings, and we're walking past her every day," neighbor Sharif Abdullah said. "I'm just hoping that whatever is going on in the household that caused her to leave, I hope they can resolve that."

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