NEW LONDON

Patricia Shepherd hasn’t seen her niece in more than a month, but the 16-year-old girl’s regularly posted MySpace updates make it clear she doesn’t want to be found.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” said Shepherd, Kimberly Crigger’s legal guardian. “She writes horrible things, like ‘You can’t find me,’ and ‘You didn’t think I’d be gone this long.’”

Kimberly was failing her sophomore year of high school in New London and left school May 21, sometime after Shepherd dropped her off that morning.

Her parents no longer have custody of her, and she lived with her stepfather for about five years before the two had an argument that prompted her to move in with Shepherd.

When Shepherd tried to set rules for the troubled girl, she rebelled. The first time she ran away, police found her within a few days. Then she fled again.

Officials suspect she’s been crashing on friends’ couches, bouncing from one temporary home to another. She’s bragged about having left the state, but no one can verify that.

Meanwhile, her aunt worries about her future.
She’s already fallen far behind in her studies, and Huron County has a warrant out for her arrest that will likely land her in a detention facility as soon as she’s found.

Young and on the run

Cases like Kimberly’s are becoming more common as family structures become increasingly complicated, New London police Chief Michael Marko said.

At least six area children have been considered missing for three weeks or longer, according to local and state agencies.

All but one are teenagers, and most are suspected to be runaways.

Norwalk police have investigated two cases in the past three weeks, including the disappearance of a North Fairfield girl last seen June 6 at her grandparents’ home.

Investigators believe the girl, Abbi Obermiller, 17, is staying with her boyfriend, 20-year-old Robert “Bobby” Young, who has denied having contact with her. Earlier this week, police discovered a note she evidently left at her grandparents’ house when she first disappeared.

“I just couldn’t take any more of this drama,” the note read. “It’s not good for me. Lol. Hope to see you soon when this all blows over. Love, Abbi.”

Norwalk police are also investigating the disappearance of another Huron County teen, 16-year-old Jeremiah “Jeremy” Cook. He was last seen June 10 at his grandparents’ Norwalk home.

Norwalk police Sgt. Jim Fulton said Jeremy is also believed to be a runaway, although they have several ideas of where he might be. But regardless of why children leave home, officials say they take all cases seriously.

“It’s dangerous when you have a person who’s not an adult, not used to taking care of themselves, out and away from home,” Fulton said. “They have no support, no money ... nothing good can come of that.”

The vast majority of juveniles reported missing are found within a day or two, but officials still enter their names into national law enforcement databases to call them to attention, said Erie County Sheriff’s Capt. Paul Sigsworth.

And authorities won’t issue an AMBER Alert unless they have some indication the child is in danger.
The broadcast emergency response system — named for a 9-year-old Texas girl kidnapped while riding her bike in Texas — has been credited with tracking down 502 missing children since 1996.

Sigsworth said he can’t remember the last time a local agency used it. Children who can’t be found are usually reported as an unruly juvenile or a missing person, depending on the circumstances.

Erie County Sheriff’s deputies responded to 85 calls for unruly juveniles last year and 13 reports of a missing person, similar to the numbers in 2008. Deputies averaged about 100 unruly juvenile calls per year from 2003 to 2007, according to the sheriff’s annual report.

National trends show many missing children are teens who leave voluntarily, while others become entrenched in custody battles between parents or relatives.

In a one-year period, 797,500 children were reported missing across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Of those children, 203,900 were victims of family abductions, and 58,200 children were the victims of non-family abductions.

Only 115 children were the victims of “stereotypical” kidnappings, involving someone the child doesn’t know who holds them overnight, demands ransom or intends to keep the child.

In these cases, timing is critical — in 76 percent of kidnapping cases that end with the child’s murder, the murder occurs within the first three hours, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Life as a fugitive

But dangers don’t subside even among children who leave home voluntarily.

Robert Lowery, executive director for a division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said children who are gone a long time often resort to risky behaviors to survive.

“Prostitution, gangs, drugs — all they’re really doing is putting themselves further at risk,” Lowery said.

Though many flee from dysfunctional families or foster care, others run from environments that appear normal in every sense of the word.

Some have behavioral or mental disorder, while others are victims of bullying or addicted to drugs. Others seem to have everything going for them.

Abbi Obermiller, who just finished her junior year at South Central High School in Greenwich, is a straight-A student who dreams of becoming an oncologist.

The youngest of seven children, she had a close relationship with her family until she fled, her father Jim Obermiller said.

Although the family had a strained relationship with her boyfriend, they said it’s completely out of character for her to take off without calling them to say she’s OK.

The search continues

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children employees work with law enforcement agencies, families and friends to track down runaways and other missing children. They often use phone records, or follow the trail of transactions a child has made.

Often, they’ll check social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook for recent postings that might point them in the right direction.

And in some cases, they’ll pound the pavement alongside police officers.

The center maintains an alphabetized database of missing children — some of whom disappeared decades ago.

Even after the children turn 18, they can stay in the database for years until someone finds them. Artists create digital renderings of what a missing child may look like as they age, updating those images alongside the pertinent information.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office also maintains its own website, the Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse.  As of Thursday, the website listed 88 children.

Ohio also has between 1,000 and 2,000 missing children cases open at any given time, AG’s spokeswoman Kim Kowalkski said, but those numbers fluctuate daily as children are recovered or reported missing. The state has 12 active cases where a child is suspected of falling victim to abduction by a stranger.

The AG’s office has assisted in several local cases where children ran away or went missing, including the case of Norwalk teen Calvin Riley, who stole a pickup truck and fled to Tennessee.

In December 2008, they helped Sandusky police locate a 15-year-old runaway by becoming friends with her on MySpace and using the website’s records to locate the address where she was logging onto the computer.

And in 2007, they aided Sandusky County Sheriff’s deputies in locating a 16-year-old girl who drove off to Florida with two men.

Though no parent expects their child to run, Lowery said they can help by keeping the lines of communication open.

He recommends checking in with children often and keeping computers in common areas of the home so they stay in tune with their children’s friends and interests. If they suspect their child is using drugs or alcohol, they should contact a professional counselor.

“There’s a lot at stake, and it’s worth the effort,” Lowery said.

 MISSING CHILDREN

* Kimberly Crigger, 16

REPORTED MISSING: May 21, 2010

LAST SEEN: New London

DESCRIPTION: White, 5 feet 2 inches, 107 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes

CONTACT: New London police, 419-929-4901

* Abbi Obermiller, 17

REPORTED MISSING: June 7

LAST SEEN: Her grandparents saw her last when she stayed at their home in Norwalk, but several people have reported seeing her in southern Huron County. Police have also questioned her boyfriend, Robert Young.

DESCRIPTION: Tall and slender, about 5 feet 10 or 11 inches, with brown hair and blue eyes.

CONTACT: Norwalk police, 419-663-6780.

* Omar Ayoub, 5

REPORTED MISSING: July 1, 2007

LAST SEEN: In Sandusky; now believed to be with his father in Jordan although the courts recognize his mother as the primary caretaker.

DESCRIPTION: White/Hispanic, estimated to be 2 feet 6 inches tall, about 30 pounds

CONTACT: Sandusky police, 419-627-5870

* Ryan Neidler, 17

REPORTED MISSING: April 27, 2010

LAST SEEN: 1341 E. Perkins Ave., Sandusky

DESCRIPTION: White, brown hair, brown eyes, about 5 feet 5 inches tall, 125 pounds

CONTACT: Sandusky police, 419-627-5870 (Reported missing by sister Jessica)

* Jeremy Cook, 16

REPORTED MISSING: June 10, 2010

LAST SEEN: At the home of his grandmother, Ellen Kreeger, 5 Manahan Ave., Norwalk

DESCRIPTION: White, blue eyes and blond hair that reaches the top of his shoulders, with bangs that hang over his right eye. About 5 feet 5 inches tall, and about 100 pounds.

CONTACT: Norwalk police, 419-668-4087

RESOURCES

* 800-THE-LOST(800-843-5678)

* National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

* Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse

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