Georgia police find boy missing for four years hidden in house behind false wall

A 13-year-old boy who was reported missing four years ago by his mother was found hidden behind a false wall in his estranged father's house on Saturday in Jonesboro, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.

NBC News reported Saturday that Clayton County police found the boy -- whose name is being withheld -- by acting on a tip that he was being held in the house.

The officers returned to the home for a second time after not finding him during a cursory search on Friday night. Two adults and three juveniles who live in the house were arrested and charged with obstruction of justice, false imprisonment and cruelty to children.

The boy's mother contacted authorities in 2010 when his father refused to return him to her after a visit. He remained missing and was unable to make contact with his mother until only recently.

Police did not go into specifics about how the boy was able to contact his mother, but that contact enabled authorities to pinpoint his location.

Officers canvassed the house around 11 p.m Friday night and found nothing out of the ordinary. All of the occupants denied knowing the missing child or having any connection to him whatsoever.

However, the boy was able to make contact with his mother again on Saturday after the police left. Operating on clues he relayed to her, police returned to the home and found the boy hidden behind a false wall.

"While at the location during the second call, the victim was able to establish phone contact with his mother and she in turn passed on additional information to the officers on the scene," said a Clayton County Police spokesperson to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "The victim was found behind a false wall within the residence."

Watch video about this story, embedded below via NBC News: