Missing Boy: Grandmother Arrested On Neglect Charge

OXFORD, Ind. -- Police have arrested the grandmother of a missing 12-year-old boy on neglect charges.

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Police Execute Search Warrant Slideshow: Missing Boy

Margaret Williams, 57, of Oxford, was being held Thursday in Benton County Jail.

Williams was arrested Wednesday night on neglect charges related to the August disappearance of her grandson, Nicolas Zavala, RTV6's Sarah Fraidin reported.

Her arrest came about six hours after state police searched the family's home northwest of Lafayette.

Williams (pictured, right) and her son Miguel returned home during the search, and from the front yard watched investigators search their home, garage and later their car.

"If they can find anything, if this will give them a clue to help them, it is fine with me," Williams said. "It's a nightmare ... it's kind of devastating, and we just don't know why they're taking everything apart. I'm just a basket-case."

Williams reported her grandson missing Aug. 13 after he did not return from a camping trip for which he had left a week earlier.

Williams has said she didn't know how to locate the family that he went with on the trip, Fraidin reported.

Sheriff's investigators at first suspected he was abducted by his mother, who lives in Virginia, but she has since passed a polygraph test.

But police said they are looking closely at Williams, and that her inconsistent statements and lack of cooperation enabled them to get the search warrant.

"I have nothing to hide. I just want my son back," Williams said.

Williams believes her daughter had something to do with Nicolas' disappearance.

"I think my daughter has him someplace -- I really do," Williams said. "I have nothing to hide. I just want my grandson back."

Investigators were searching the home for blood, hair or anything suspicious, Fraidin reported.

As part of the search, a cadaver dog was brought in to search the property for the scent of a dead body, Fraidin reported. A blood-splatter expert also used a blue light to search for blood in the house, the car and the garage.

Williams and her son Miguel have not taken a lie-detector test, but she told Fraidin she will do so when she hires a lawyer.

"I will pass it and so will my son. We have nothing to hide," Williams said.

The search warrant was sealed, so police were not able to divulge whether anything was found, Fraidin reported.

Indiana State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Shana Kennedy said police are investigating all angles of the disappearance.

"We're trying to narrow the scope of the investigation. We still don't know what we have, whether its an abduction or whether there is any serious foul play or just what," she said.