A woman was found dead and partially buried in a shallow grave after she was missing for two weeks, officials said.
The body of 43-year-old Jennifer Brown was located in Royersford, Pennsylvania, US, while an investigation around the circumstances of her death is ongoing.
No arrests have been made as of yet and a cause of death has not been determined, while Brown's body was taken to the coroner's office.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said: "I can't tell you how many people have worked through this and have helped in this case to try to locate her.
"We hoped and prayed that she would be safe. And she is not."
The woman was reported missing on January 3 by her friend and business partner Antonio 'Blair' Watts-Richardson.
Brown arrived at his place to leave her eight-year-old son, Noah, there for a sleepover and was meant to pick him up from a bus station the following day.
Watts-Richardson told NBC : "I put Noah on the bus the next day."
But Brown never showed up to pick him up.
Her keys, wallet and work cellphone were found in her car outside her home, officials said. Her personal cell phone has not been found and has not been communicating since the morning of January 4.
Watts-Richardson said he doesn’t know what happened to Brown between January 3 and the morning of January 4.
He told NBC : "I have nothing to do with anything. Just because I’m the last person to see her, that does not mean anything."
Frustrated, he added: "It seems like I’m being the one poked at. I’m the first person that called the police, trying to kick down windows. Trying to find my friend. Trying to make sure her son is covered."
Another friend described Brown as a loving and caring mother and said that she was going through a stressful period as the two of them were planning to open a restaurant together.
Tiffany Barron said: "She is a doting, I call her, helicopter mom. She loves her son. She would never leave her son."
Barron, who is looking after Noah at the moment, said: "He was just saying he wanted his mom. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t go into his own home."
Brown’s neighbours, Kathleen Cocca and Nancy Decker said the mother and her son have an unbreakable bond.
Cocca said: "That little boy has always been by her side. She walks him to school. She picks him up from the bus. He’s never allowed to be on his own.
"Even when he comes out to play, she’s outside sitting on the chair."
