Deputies: Missing Robeson County boy found

Robeson County sheriff's deputies said 1-year-old Jaylon Marcus Bullard was unharmed when he was found with his mother, Candice Locklear, 21, and her live-in boyfriend, Shamael Ellerber, 23.

Ellerber was accused of abducting the boy from their mobile home at 154 McBridge Road in Red Springs during a domestic dispute.

Maj. Anthony Thompson, of the Robeson County Sheriff's Office, said the couple argued during the pre-dawn hours Friday. At some point, Locklear took the boy and ran to a neighbor's house.

Thompson said Ellerber chased them and forced them into a green 2001 Chevrolet Malibu before driving away.

All three were found in Robeson County, Thompson said. It was unclear where they were.

The boy was released into the custody of his father, Jamie Bullard.

Oh man, it feels great," he said as he held his son in his arms. "I was crying all morning and just worried to death about him. I'm just glad he's back with me."

Bullard said Locklear and Ellerber fought often. He said Locklear went to a neighbor's house to try to call her grandmother following the fight, and the green Malibu belonged to Locklear.

Locklear posted messages on her Facebook page, calling the incident a "misunderstanding." She wrote: "Nobody has kidnapped me or my Li'l Man."

Investigators said they received conflicting information as the day wore on. It was a day that Jamie Bullard described as agonizing.

"I was just praying to God that he would be all right and that the Lord would look over him and bring him back home to me," he said.

WRAL has learned that Bullard has a criminal past. In 2008, he was charged with first-degree murder and intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury in the case involving his seven-month-old son. Bullard was eventually convicted in 2010 on lesser charges of felony child abuse and involuntary manslaughter. 

Bullard served time and remains on probation. 

No charges were filed in Friday's incident case.