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Please pray - local homeschool teen is missing


Susan in TN
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I believe that is usually a consideration, but the "runaway" classification reported was not accurate.
http://www.nolensvillehomepage.com/


I've only found limited stories when I searched. I could very well be missing stuff.

His parents ( if they haven't already ) need to reach out to news media and give his story, including why they think he did not run away.

I feel horrible for them.
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How terrible.  Its so sad that society assumes most missing teens are runaways. :(

 

Most missing teens ARE runaways, so it's a sensible assumption. The only problem is if law enforcement refuses to investigate on the assumption that he probably ran away. They didn't, and were conducting a quick search only hours after he went missing, and a larger, more formal search later the very same day. So, LE appears to be doing the right things, no matter why they think he is missing. 

 

Believe me, I hope he is a runaway. That's the best scenario. 

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Most missing teens ARE runaways, so it's a sensible assumption. The only problem is if law enforcement refuses to investigate on the assumption that he probably ran away. They didn't, and were conducting a quick search only hours after he went missing, and a larger, more formal search later the very same day. So, LE appears to be doing the right things, no matter why they think he is missing.

Believe me, I hope he is a runaway. That's the best scenario.


There was a homeschooled girl in Nebraska earlier this month who ran away but her parents didn't think she did.

I'm sure I'd feel the same way, thinking my teen didnt run away.

But being a runaway is dangerous in and of itself, as I'm sure we all know.

I hope,he is found soon.
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Praying here. :grouphug:

Does anyone know why they are classifying him as a runaway?

Most missing teens are runaways. The second most likely scenario, God forbid, is that someone in his family harmed him. Stranger abduction or trafficking of teen boys is much less likely. Even so, the fact that the police are searching means that whatever may have happened, they are taking it seriously.
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Most missing teens are runaways. The second most likely scenario, God forbid, is that someone in his family harmed him. Stranger abduction or trafficking of teen boys is much less likely. Even so, the fact that the police are searching means that whatever may have happened, they are taking it seriously.

  

I think Cat wanted specific facts from this case about why this teen was classified as a runaway.
A note? Records of contact on social media about meet-ups? Missing personal belongings?


Thanks -- yes, I was asking about why the media reported it in this specific case, where it appears that the family believes otherwise. I would think that the average reader or TV viewer would be far less likely to keep their eyes open for a runaway teen than for a teen who was reported to have possibly been kidnapped.
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Really good news!

It looks like Christopher has been found according to this Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/BringChrisHome

"Christopher Smithburg has been found about two miles from his home in Rutherford County. He is safe and receiving a medical exam."

News channel 5 link: http://www.newschannel5.com/story/25113365/volunteers-searching-for-missing-nolensville-teen

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Sad developments in this case: http://www.newschannel5.com/story/25147040/mother-accused-of-abusing-runaway-teen-bonds-out-of-jail


$@&(',":@().!,@(!!!!!

This makes me so angry. If this is what happened, and the parents lied to the police about the circumstances before the boy ran away, I hope they are charged with obstructing the investigation as well as child abuse.

GAH!!!!!
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$@&(',":@().!,@(!!!!!

This makes me so angry. If this is what happened, and the parents lied to the police about the circumstances before the boy ran away, I hope they are charged with obstructing the investigation as well as child abuse.

GAH!!!!!


It does make me think of Rose, though. I have to leave room for the possibility that he's lying. They're abusive....he has RAD....some combination....it's all possible.
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$@&(',":@().!,@(!!!!!

This makes me so angry. If this is what happened, and the parents lied to the police about the circumstances before the boy ran away, I hope they are charged with obstructing the investigation as well as child abuse.

GAH!!!!!

 

The key word here is "if".  It could be that the boy is lying.  He could have made the whole thing up, and ran away because he's angry and doesn't want to follow the rules.  I understand the anger against the mom, but I'm not so sure the real facts are out, yet.  Just my .02.
 

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$@&(',":@().!,@(!!!!!

This makes me so angry. If this is what happened, and the parents lied to the police about the circumstances before the boy ran away, I hope they are charged with obstructing the investigation as well as child abuse.

GAH!!!!!

 

The police said from the beginning that he was classified as a runaway, and the parents never publicly disputed that, so my guess is that they were saying one thing unofficially but weren't dumb enough to lie to the police. 

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The key word here is "if".  It could be that the boy is lying.  He could have made the whole thing up, and ran away because he's angry and doesn't want to follow the rules.  I understand the anger against the mom, but I'm not so sure the real facts are out, yet.  Just my .02.
 

 

They did arrest the mom, which would be highly unusual if there was no corroboration of his story. We definitely don't know the whole story yet, but I do think something went on. 

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I hope it's not true. But I just have to say,if it is, I wonder if they read the Pearl book. Extreme physical punishments, withholding food for not being able to complete the absurd, impossible task set as punishment, hitting when unable to comply with the physically impossible...

I hope not. But, we've heard eerily similar stories before and especially with troubled, adopted children and the Pearl's were an underlying influence in those cases.

Sigh...I hope the boy gets the help he needs.

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The police said from the beginning that he was classified as a runaway, and the parents never publicly disputed that, so my guess is that they were saying one thing unofficially but weren't dumb enough to lie to the police.

Susan said the runaway classification was wrong. I assumed she had local or personal information that lead her to tell that here.

AFAIK, I didn't see any interviews with the parents. I'd like to see them and hear what they said in the first hours after Christopher ran away.
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Susan said the runaway classification was wrong. I assumed she had local or personal information that lead her to tell that here.

AFAIK, I didn't see any interviews with the parents. I'd like to see them and hear what they said in the first hours after Christopher ran away.


:iagree:

We have no way of knowing the family history, and I haven't seen any details about any past problems with the boy or parents getting into any kind of trouble, so anything we say is pure speculation... and at this point, I can see that either side of this story could be perfectly valid, because it's still a he said/she said kind of situation. We don't know if the parents are abusive, nor do we know if the kid is a defiant troublemaker. Right now, in my mind, it could go either way.
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They did arrest the mom, which would be highly unusual if there was no corroboration of his story. We definitely don't know the whole story yet, but I do think something went on. 

 

I'm not saying mom is innocent, and I do agree that something went on.  I'm just saying there's more here, and I'm not judging the mom.

 

I've actually seen first hand the reverse of this, where the wrong person got arrested.  We used to have a neighbor that I refer to as psycho lady.  She had a teenage daughter.  One night the teen was sitting on the front porch, talking on the phone, when their little dog ran off down the street.  She couldn't catch him, so she ran in and grabbed the keys to her mom's car, (because her mom had parked behind her) and went to get the dog.  When she got back, the mom attacked her in the front yard for taking her car.  The mom had her on the ground, sitting on top of her, screaming at her, hitting her.. so the girl was hitting back, trying to get mom off.  When the cops showed up, the girl had managed to roll mom over, and since the teen was sitting on mom when they got there, guess who got arrested.  The teen- who was just defending herself. 

 

My point is, that w/out all the facts, we shouldn't assume that the kid is being truthful....or the mom for that matter.

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