A Teenage Mother Murders Her Baby and Lies to the Police
By: Sarah Lyall-Neal
Tags: Missing Children, Missing Persons, True Crime, Crime, Murder

At the same time the world was learning about the Coronavirus for the first time, officials in Sullivan County, Tennessee were just getting started on a missing person investigation involving a 15 month-old baby girl named Evelyn Boswell.

According to reporting by WCYB, an affiliate of NBC news out of Bristol, Tennessee, Evelyn’s grandfather, Tommy Boswell, Sr. reported to the department of children’s services that he hadn’t seen Evelyn in over two months.

In an interview with WJHL, a dual ABC/CBS affiliate out of nearby Johnson City, Tn. Mr. Bosswell was quoted as saying:

“I don’t know what happened, but I’m the one who called DCS and got this started…I ain’t slept nights, I’ve cried like a baby. I just want my grandbaby to come home.”

An Amber Alert was issued on February 19, 2020. Evelyn was said to have last been seen wearing a pink tracksuit, pink shoes, and a pink bow. The alert further stated she had last been seen on December 26, 2019.

Photo Credit: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Twitter Feed

The Search Begins

On February 21, The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) tweeted they had information that individuals traveling in a grey 2007 BMW with Tennessee tags might have information regarding Evelyn’s whereabouts.

The vehicle was located quickly in Wilkes County, North Carolina. According to a follow-up tweet by the TBI, the two individuals in the vehicle were William McCloud and Angela Boswell, Evelyn’s grandmother, and her grandmother’s boyfriend. Both individuals were arrested on theft charges not related to the missing person case.

The police continued to follow every lead and several members of the community put up reward money, including Sheriff Jeff Cassidy. Everyone in the area was on high alert hoping to spot the missing baby.

As the investigation continued, police updated the date Evelyn was last seen to December 10th or 11th of 2019. The last person said to have seen her was her babysitter, whom the police believed to be a reliable source.

Photo Credit: WCYB.com

WCYB interview with Megan Boswell (February 21)

When asked by WCYB why she waited so long to report her daughter missing, Megan, Evelyn’s mother, stated she didn’t report her daughter missing because she believed the person who had her might take off with her. She went on to say that Evelyn was with someone whom she had trusted to watch her while she was working. When asked if she would do anything differently, Megan said she would have reported her daughter missing right away.

Later the same day, WCYB covered a news conference by Sheriff Cassidy. At the time of the news conference, Cassidy stated that Megan was involved in the investigation, but that information she had given the police did not compute with information authorities had already established.

WJHL interview with Megan Boswell (February 24th)

The search continued for several days, with the TBI releasing new photos and videos and urging the public to be on the lookout. On February 24th, Megan gave another interview, this time to WJHL. At the time of this interview, Megan stated that her mother, Evelyn's grandmother, had taken the baby to Mendota, Virginia. Mendota is located roughly thirty minutes from Sullivan County, Tn.

During the interview, Megan seemed upset that the TBI and Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department wasn't taking her seriously. She stated she hadn’t given them specific information because her mom had threatened her.

WJHL confirmed that the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department thoroughly searched a campground in Mendota but didn’t find anything of importance to the case.

Pregnancy, Polygraph, and Arrest

February 25th proved to be an eventful day in the investigation. Megan sent a Facebook message to WJHL stating she was pregnant again and therefore could not participate in a polygraph assessment. The questionable part of this message was that she had not been asked to take a polygraph.

According to reporting by WJHL, the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department does not use polygraphs and the TBI had not scheduled a polygraph assessment for her.

WVLT a CBS affiliate out of Knoxville Tennessee reported later on the same day that Megan was being arrested by the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department for false reporting. Her bond was set at 25,000 dollars.

WCYB noted, after Megan’s arrest, no new pregnant inmates were added to the Sullivan County jail roster, bringing into question Megan’s assertion that she was pregnant.

Searching a pond in Wilkes County, North Carolina

On February 26th the Sullivan County Sherriff’s Department held a press conference to discuss Megan’s arrest.

WVLT quoted Captain Andrew Seabolt as saying:

“Every time we talk to her, her story changes. I’m serious when I say that every single time.”

After the press conference ended, investigators in Wilkes County, North Carolina received a tip that led them to search an area around a nearby pond.

WVLT reported the property in question belonged to someone related to William McCloud, Evelyn’s grandmother’s boyfriend. The results of the search were reported to be inconclusive.

A Heartbreaking Discovery

The search continued, next focusing on a mobile home park owned by Tommy Boswell, Jr., Megan’s brother. The search of the park didn’t produce any sightings of Evelyn.

On March 6th, WVLT reported the TBI and the Sullivan County Sherriff's Department believed they had found Evelyn’s remains at a property in Blountville, Tn. The property was reported to belong to Megan’s father, brother, and grandmother.

Megan returns to court

On March 9th, WVLT reported Megan again appeared in court on charges related to her misleading investigators. During the course of this hearing, her bond was raised to $150,000.

Further, WVLT reported the TBI found the clothing Evelyn was last seen in, as well as toys and diapers around her remains. It would take two more days for the TBI to confirm that the remains belonged to Evelyn.

A person of interest

On May 6th, WVLT reported Captain Joey Strickler of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department stated the police had a person of interest. According to Strickler, the sheriff’s department didn’t believe Evelyn had ever been in Virginia or North Carolina.

He further reported during the same interview that both the TBI and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department still had investigators on the case. He denied that the case was being slowed by the Coronavirus, stating investigators were taking their time to make sure they got all the facts.

Photo Credit: Knoxville News Sentinel

Megan is indicted

On August 19th, WVLT reported Megan was charged with 19 counts in connection with the murder of her daughter.

Attorney General Barry Staubus was quoted by WVLT as saying the following:

“A grand jury returned presentments on 19 counts. Two counts were felony murder, one in perpetration of felony child abuse and one in perpetration of aggravated child neglect. Boswell also faces one count of aggravated child abuse, one count of aggravated child neglect, one count of tampering with evidence, 12 counts of false reporting, one count of abuse of a corpse and one count of failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual or unnatural circumstances.”

The Latest

WCYB reported that Megan has spent the last several months incarcerated on a $1 million bond. She was last seen in court on December 3rd.

The case was continued to January 22, 2021, at 9 am, at that time attorney general Staubus is expected to make a decision regarding the death penalty. Megan’s defense attorney is expected to request a change of venue from Sullivan County due to the publicity of the case.

Evelyn’s Law

A small bright spot in this otherwise bleak story is that lawmakers have proposed a law in Evelyn’s honor. Evelyn’s Law would make failing to report a child missing within 24 hours a class A misdemeanor. This would prevent another situation like the police faced in Evelyns case, where the child had been missing for nearly 2 months prior to the police being made aware.

According to reporting by WCYB, at this time, the Covid-19 situation has prevented Evelyn’s Law from being brought before the Tennessee legislature. Due to more pressing matters, the legislature will likely take up the discussion of Evelyn’s law during their next session in 2021.