Crime & Safety

Fugitive Couple Reportedly Stayed at Mass. Home

A blue minivan with New Hampshire license plates was spotted in Beverly, Mass. on Saturday night.

UPDATE: Beverly, Mass. Police located a gray 1996 Honda Civic on Dunham Road near the North Shore Music Theatre at approximately 12:45 a.m. Sunday and took one female into custody.

According to scanner reports, the female was not Jessica Linscott, however, police had issued an updated alert around midnight to be on the lookout for the vehicle, which they believed Linscott and her boyfriend were driving.

Police said they believed the couple fled a house on Dunham Road around 11 p.m. Saturday in the Civic. K-9 units had also been out searching the surrounding area.

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An earlier story follows:

Massachusetts police departments and Massachusetts State Police are on the lookout for a blue 2009 Dodge Caravan with New Hampshire license plates (2844129).

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The van was seen in Beverly, Mass. heading north around 8 p.m. Saturday and police believe a New Hampshire couple wanted in a child abuse case may be using the van. Officers are requested to stop the vehicle and identify the occupants.

Police say the van is registered to a Newton, N.H. resident who is a relative of the couple in question.

Jessica Linscott, 23, and her boyfriend, Roland Dow, 27, of Plaistow, N.H., are both wanted on multiple charges of assault, neglect and endangering a child in connection with severe abuse and physical injury inflicted on Linscott's three-year-old son.

Beverly police were out at a Dunham Road home around 8:30 p.m. and WCVB-TV reports they were searching the home because the couple was spotted there earlier in the day.

WCVB-TV reports that authorities believe Linscott and Dow are in fact driving the blue minivan back toward New Hampshire or Maine where they have friends.

Linscott's son is being treated at a New Hampshire hospital. He was originally dropped off by the couple at hospital on Nov. 14 and doctors reported he showed signs of head injuries and his body was covered with bruises and burns.

The couple then went missing and police have received tips in recent days of possible sightings of the couple around the North Shore.


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