Update: Missing Massachusetts man and family, last seen in Florida’s Everglades found safe

OZARK COUNTY, Fla. — 6:45 p.m. Update: The family has been found and are doing fine, according to the Ozark County Sheriff.

Original article:

Concern grows for a missing Massachusetts man and his family who were last seen in Florida’s Everglades.

Justin Ruggles, along with his wife, Jennifer, and their now 6-month-old baby disappeared in mid-April.

Justin’s family in Massachusetts is concerned. “It’s out of the ordinary for them not to be communicating with their family,” said Nicole Ruggles, Justin’s sister in law.

Justin Ruggles is from Brockton, Massachusetts, but during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was working in Derry, New Hampshire.

He recently moved to Missouri, and bought a large parcel of land in the Ozarks. While there, he joined a religious group called the Parable of the Vineyard.

That’s where Justin met his wife Jennifer, and the couple had a baby boy.

But investigators say earlier this year, everything changed.

The family abruptly packed their pickup truck and headed to Florida.

“It’s been a difficult task, I tell you. We’ve worked day and night on it,” said Sgt. Justin Brown of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department.

Sgt. Brown tells me Justin’s ties to the Parable of the Vineyard group is part of this investigation.

“They just up and left and decided they wanted to go to Florida,” Sgt. Brown said. “It also appears they tried to step away from that group. And that may have been some of the conflict that led them to leave Missouri and go to Florida.”

The Ozark County Sheriff’s Office has appealed to the public for help on Facebook, and the FBI is now involved in trying to locate the Ruggles family.

The Ruggles family may be driving a silver 2018 Dodge Ram pickup truck with NH registration: 445-8031

In Massachusetts, Justin’s family is worried.

“We want to be respectful to anything Justin would want to do willingly, but we are just concerned why communication has stopped. Why everything he was working towards, has suddenly stopped,” Nicole Ruggles told me.

I reached out to the Parable of the Vineyard religious group, I did not get a response.

If you think you’ve seen Justin and his family, you are urged to contact police, immediately.

You can also contact Ozark County Sheriff’s Department directly at 417-679-4633.

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