HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. — The grandmother of a missing 2-year-old New Jersey boy, whose alleged kidnapping at the hands of his father led to an Amber Alert Friday, says her missing grandson — along with his mother and father — could be as far away as Georgia.
Sebastian Rios, 2, was last seen on Thursday, according to New Jersey State Police. He was in Rahway, New Jersey, where he is from, Highland Park Police said.
Officials said Rios and his mother, Yasemin Uyar, 24, both of Rahway, are believed to have been abducted by the child’s father, Tyler Rios, 27, of Highland Park, N.J.
Karen Uyar, Yasemin Uyar’s mother, spoke to PIX11 News via Zoom Friday evening.
She told us that Yasemin and Tyler Rios have known one another since Yasemin was in high school, but that they haven’t been a couple since shortly after their son, Sebastian, was born.
Since then, Karen Uyar said her daughter has been assaulted multiple times by Tyler Rios and has a restraining order against him.
“She was actually in the process of moving,” Karen Uyar said. “We normally speak every day but I didn’t speak with her yesterday because she was busy packing and I didn’t want to bother. Unfortunately, we’re not positive over when he actually took them because none of us spoke with her yesterday.”
Karen Uyar said she fears that means Tyler Rios may have gotten as much as a 24-hour head start, noting that her grandson Sebastian was not in daycare Thursday.
Karen Uyar also said she would consider Tyler to be dangerous, and that when he drinks, he is violent. She added that she believes he may use his son as a shield.
When asked if she wanted them to know anything else about her daughter and the father of her grandson, Karen Uyar said that she felt Yasemin would try to appease Tyler Rios if she felt her life was in danger, and that Tyler has a lot of family in Georgia, specifically the town of Lawrenceville.
PIX11 News found a record for Tyler Rios in Lawrenceville that matches the information on the Amber Alert.
Karen Uyar said Tyler Rios also has family in the Newark and Paterson areas, but fears that with such a head start, he may already be in Georgia.
Police ask that anyone with information about the abduction call 9-1-1.