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missing teen family member


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Does anyone here know anything about missing persons?

 

Yesterday morning, a 19-year-old foster-adopted girl left for a situation that we feel is unsafe. She left on good terms, and she has always responded quickly to text messages.

 

The last anyone heard from her was noon yesterday. I wondered if her cell phone lost its battery while she was on the long trip. Everything (including her list of emergency resources if she's in trouble) is in that phone. We know shockingly little about her arrangements and contact people there.

 

She was supposed to meet her boyfriend, who just got out of jail. The police department told me that they can't contact his parole officer unless 1) he has violated parole, or 2) we can give them the parole officer's name. :confused:

 

How soon would you worry? Who do we contact if the local police are unhelpful? She went to a very backward city.

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If her battery died she may have just forgot to turn it back on if she charged it. I would try not to worry too much yet. If her battery did die she will probably contact someone today. My thoughts are with you.

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Can you contact the boyfriend's family and see if they know if she is with the boyfriend? Since the girl was a foster child, did she have a case worker and can you contact the case worker? I would contact the police again and see what their requirements are for missing person reports.

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I don't know the boyfriend at all, or his family. I know that his mom died while he was in jail. The other option is to try to reach her birth family, who lives where she was going. The trouble is that some of them are really mad at her (scary). She wasn't even telling her birth mom that she was coming. (She is adopted, but she doesn't have a case worker anymore.)

 

How would I get information about how this works, especially on a Saturday? Would a local police department be open on a Saturday? I'd like to walk in somewhere and talk to a police officer face-to-face, if possible.

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Other than checking with the state police to see if there was an accident along the route, I'm not sure that much can be done at this point. An adult left willingly, and there's no indication that anything untoward has happened.

 

Do you know that she should have arrived by now, time-wise? If you have an address, the police may do a welfare check. If not, I'm not sure what they can be expected to do. In a very small town, they might know if she has arrived or be willing to ask around.

 

Generally, you can always find someone at a police station, so it might be worth going in for advice. Just be prepared for them to take no official action. I know it's hard to just wait, so I would concentrate on finding out as much info as possible. Do you have the full name of the boyfriend, or any last names of people she might be staying with, or might know in the town? Start googling, checking whitepages.com, and so forth.

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Do you know that she should have arrived by now, time-wise?

 

She was scheduled to arrive at 2:45 yesterday. I have heard from her now.

 

I finally found the number of a police department in a small town near where we live. (I don't like calling 911.) They sent a sheriff out here. The sheriff was extremely nice and said he had foster kids, too.

 

Then I got a text message from the girl while the sheriff was here. He was just getting ready to make a report, after hearing all the details (more than I shared here). I felt embarrassed that he came to our house for nothing, but he acted like maybe I shouldn't be happy with only a text message. She said she'd call me later today, and I'll feel better hearing her voice.

 

The sheriff was very informative, and he acted pleased to introduce himself to a new family out here. I know that a busy police department (like where this girl has gone) can't take care of "little" things like this. I'm so thankful to live in a place where someone doesn't even mind coming out to the house to take a report in person.

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I'm glad you've heard from her. Teens can be self absorbed. Maybe she didn't realize how worried you would be.

 

I'm sure this was the case! I just talked to her on the phone, and she sounded cheerful. She had trouble finding a room last night because she's under 21 - and I'm sure there are plenty more details I'm not hearing.

 

Sorry to panic. I can't fathom the life she's choosing, but I'm glad she's alive and well.

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