Car found in water off Cape May beach tied to death of boy in his Horsham Township home

An 11-year-old boy from Horsham Township is dead and his mother is in custody after her car was discovered "partially submerged" off the Jersey Shore, police said Tuesday.

Matthew Whitehead was reportedly found dead by his father shortly after 7 a.m. The child's death remains under investigation; the cause of death was not yet made public.

According to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, the child was discovered in a master bedroom of the family home. The boy is believed to have slept in the room with his mother, Ruth Whitehead-Dirienzo, Steele said.

The child's father told police that he awoke to find the door to the master bedroom locked and his wife's black Toyota Highlander missing from the garage, said Steele. As officers in Horsham were searching the home, police in Cape May, New Jersey, spotted the family's SUV in the ocean, the district attorney said.

Ruth Whitehead-Dirienzo was later spotted in Wildwood Crest and taken into police custody, officials said.

No charges were filed as of 3 p.m. Tuesday.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Montgomery County child dead, mom's car spotted off Jersey Shore