Missing 15 year old --last seen in or near San Francisco

[coffeenap]

Hi friends. I am helping the friend of a friend spread the word about a missing girl. She was on her way to Utah on a flight from St. Louis. Instead of getting off at SLC, she flew on to Oakland. She got a ride to Fisherman's Wharf with a fellow passenger, and that was where she was last seen. A link to her identifying information and contact request is here:


http://www.alostchild.com/flyers_children_moreinfo.cfm?id=1913

Many thanks everyone. m.

(also posted in the California forum)

fixed link

[Midlodemocrat]

1. The link doesn't work.

[coffeenap]

2. just noticed, thanks. it wont copy right, but i will correct it now. nt

[Midlodemocrat]

3. Gosh, that is awful. Those poor parents.

:cry:

[coffeenap]

4. I know, i know. So hard. Thanks for responding.

:hug:

[Midlodemocrat]

5. I forwarded it to my office in San Francisco. Maybe someone

there has seen her. *fingers crossed*

[coffeenap]

6. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! nt

[Ellen Forradalom]

7. There seems to be some back story here

I googled her name.

She seems to have been headed to Island View, a Utah residential treatment center for troubled teens.
www.islandview-rtc.com/

Some of Island View's alumni have a low opinion of the place.
http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p=294669&sid=a3ea956c16bbb068c1cdd751441224a0

[coffeenap]

8. I was afraid of that. I do not know the family, so I can't tell you

any more than what is out there. But, the friend of a friend says the family loves her and are desperate to find her. Thanks.

[Ellen Forradalom]

9. I don't doubt that they do

I hope she's safe and it all gets sorted out in the end.

[Midlodemocrat]

11. Those 'tough love' facilities should all be shut down.

They're just legal abuse centers where the staff can and does treat the children who are sent there as animals.

And, the whole 'tough love' movement only leads to 'tough hate'. It's despicable.

[coffeenap]

12. Me too. I just sent your links to the friend of the friend so she

has a deeper understanding of what the real situation might be. I feel so sorry for kids sent to those institutions. I would offer them protection myself, to be quite honest!

[sasquatch]

20. The Shawn Hornback Foundation have spoken with the parents

and they promised that she wouldn't be sent back to Island View.

[regnaD kciN]

32. While the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation may be a worthy enterprise...

...I'm pretty sure that any promise her parents make to them is not legally-binding, nor, even if it were, would it prevent them from simply sending her to a similar "tough-love" institution somewhere else.

[coffeenap]

33. True. But, the foundation has arranged for the latest poster

to include a phone number of a cousin she apparently trusts. So, maybe she will feel she has a choice. I hope she really does...

[sasquatch]

10. It sounds like I'm torn between Ellen Forradalom and my sympathies to the family

I hope this girl finds her way safely and happily.

[coffeenap]

13. Me too. I hate those "schools" . It is very difficult to imagine

sending my troubled kid off to strangers. No one will love them or respect them more than caring parents. Beyond my comprehension. However, the kid is alone in San Francisco and is 15. She needs safe support. Thanks.

[sasquatch]

14. What do you do though

If you find her and tell the cops they send her to hell. If you find her and look the other way will she be safe.

[coffeenap]

15. Well, that is why I am so glad I have DU to post this on:

There are people here who understand what this kid might really be facing. This request is going out all over the country on lists of every type. If I were the one to find her, knowing what I know now, thanks to Ellen F., I would anonymously notify the searchers of her safety, even give them some code word the family might recognize, and then give the kid time to figure out what she wants to do. I am sure I could be arrested for it, but it would be the right thing.

[Quantess]

16. San Francisco is no place for a runaway teenager.

The uninitated think the city think is all... kind hippies who like to share their kind buds, flowers in their hair, gentle people, people in motion, etc.
SF isn't like that at all. It's gritty and urban. I call SF "cutthroat liberal", or "liberal with a knife". Bad place for a homeless teenager!

Edit spelling.

[EFerrari]

17. Those poor parents. She might wind up in The Haight

or even out here by the beach because it's close to part of the park where street kids sleep.

I can flyer out here along the park perimeter and see if our cops have gotten the word. Keep me posted. :(

[coffeenap]

18. Thanks, darlin'! I am three degrees separated from this

family, but whatever I hear I will certainly share!

You are an amazing person, I so admire you!:hug:

[EFerrari]

19. Not at all -- I walk that perimeter every day.

Let's assume she'll be all right. If she's smart enough to do this, she's smart enough to call home!

:hug:

[sasquatch]

21. Everyone else please see post #20

[coffeenap]

23. Yes, that is very important. Thank you. nt

[Book Lover]

22. I work along the Embarcadero, near the Wharf

and will poster this this afternoon.

[coffeenap]

24. You are wonderful! Many thanks from everyone concerned.

I do hope she is safe and gets to live her life her way.

[CraftyGal]

25. I hope that you don't mind...

I have sen this to my contacts that I have made to get the word out.

Crafty

[coffeenap]

27. That is great. I asked the first person who told me about her

if I could post here. Thank you for passing it on. I hope she is found safe and can live as she wishes.

[rocktivity]

26. Uh oh--hope it's not one of those Internet "meetups."

Does she know anyone in the San Francisco area? Fifteen-year-olds can be SO impetuous.

:(
rocknation

[coffeenap]

28. I'm sorry, I don't know. This is a friend of a friend thing for me.

It sounds like she met someone on the flight who helped her get to Fisherman's Wharf, but I have no way to know if she intended to get there from the beginning or if it was an idea she got while on the plane.

[coffeenap]

29. self delete-double post

[coffeenap]

30. I want to thank you all so much. I LOVE DU!! Updated pic link:

There was a family member's name and email included with the original information I received about Emily. I emailed that person tonight to tell them that there are some wonderful people from here working to find her. I know if I were waiting and worrying, I would want to know about you!

You are amazing, DUers. You renew my faith in humans. Best wishes. m.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2144586

The link above has what looks to be a more up to date pic, plus a reward offer description.

[CraftyGal]

31. I have updated all the information in the variuos forums that I am on.

:kick:

Crafty

[coffeenap]

34. Thank you. I hope someone finds her safe and sound. nt

[jberryhill]

39. "A man who'd been on the plane told police he gave her $20 and a ride to San Francisco"

I'm trying to imagine what sort of responsible adult would do that.

Even as a matter of pure self-interest, setting yourself up to be the last man alone with a teenaged girl is tremendously bad judgment.

[jberryhill]

35. That's odd

Although mandatory up to age 12, any older minor passenger can be checked in as an "unaccompanied minor", and Southwest assigns a flight attendant to each unaccompanied minor to ensure they deplane and meet their identified pickup person.

[coffeenap]

36. Hmmm. Good point. I wonder.... nt

[Ellen Forradalom]

37. Does that mean it is optional to check in youth over 12

as 'unaccompanied minors'? Was she not checked in as such, then? Then Southwest would not have known to ensure she debark at SLC.

[jberryhill]

38. The policy is mandatory up to age 12

Over age 12, the policy is optional, but advised.

This is not to suggest that her parents or the airline were at fault, but if anyone didn't know about airline unaccompanied minor programs, it seemed like a good place to mention them.

One difficulty with Southwest in particular is that since they don't have an assigned seating policy, there is no "seating chart" to sort out those to whom she would have been adjacent.

[CraftyGal]

40. That what I love about Westjet...

we have to let them know when my son (14 yrs) is on the plane. There is also assigned seating and he is usually either, one of the first one off the plane or the last. I really wish all airplanes used this tactic it would help in missing cases.

Crafty