[b]***FOUND*****[/b]
My sincere thanks to everyone looking for the blue mini-van.

This is how it ended up.  Last night at approximately 2100hrs my friend received info that the van had been seen pulling into a driveway off a highway near the remote town of Ruch approximately 20 miles West of Medford.  He was with a group of guys searching the area, so they immediately headed out there.  On the way he called the S.0., they replied "Well, we don't really like to send our people out that far at night, call us and let us know how it turns out."  WTF?  One of the guys with my friend had a personal contact at the local Oregon State Patrol, he contacted the officer and he made it out there in 15minutes (normally 30 minute drive).  My friend pulled up near the house (single wide mobile) and the 20 yr old dirtbag came out hiding something behind his back.  My friend backed off (he was not packin').  The kid went back inside.  The OSP officer (with nads of steel) went up to the house with weapon and 6 cell maglite in hand and yelled "OREGON STATE POLICE COME OUT OF THE HOUSE NOW"  The derelict did and was helped to the ground.  The girls came out of the house, very distraught.

Thankfully this turned out for the good, situations like this could go the other way quite easily.

Needless to say, the police (except OSP) response was poor, here are some highlights from the girls.......

The first night they slept in the van at a park in Medford (the parks here have a 10 pm curfew).

When they were driving around the second night they were at a stoplight right next to a Medford PD car at 0230 hrs, he looked at them but nothing else (the van was in NCIC at the time and there is a curfew for minors of midnight).

My friend is going to write a letter to the editor of local newspaper about the events as well as trying to talk to the local CLEO's.  He had contacted the FBI Portland office prior to me telling him about the "minors over state lines without parental permission law", the FBI told him there had been nothing criminal so they could do nothing (didn't mention anything about the "minors" law).

Again, my friend and I sincerely thank you for your immediate response to this situation.  Knowing that the first 72 hours are the most critical, turning to this website was an excellent way for us to get the word out in a hurry.

May Santa bring you all LEGP's for Christmas,

Ed
[beer]

Any LEO's in the area take note.

Not LEO but will keep a lookout in the Portland area .

I live in Vancouver. Do a lot of driving on I-5 and I-205. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Anyone in Cali off I-5?


Aviator  [img]www.milpubs.com/aviator.gif[/img]

Probably too cold for them to come to Alaska, but I'll keep an eye out none the less.

I knew I could count on you guys.

Semper Fi

I'll be on 101 in Marin county and all over S.F. tomorrow because of work. If they were in Medford then most likely they headed South. They may have made it to the Bay Area by now.

I'll also be on 80, 880, 580 and 24

Alex

san diego between the 1-5 and 805 is covered. if spotted will advise

Any sort of past pattern (ran away before) or idle chatter to hint at which way they might have gone?  Friends in SF, Seattle, Boise, or wherever that she was wanting to see?

71- no past attempts at running away, no destinations mentioned.  The girl she went with is quite rebellious, but nothing of this magnitude.

You can understand why this is so frustrating, not much to go on.

My worries are for when the money runs out.  Desperate people do desparate, stupid things.

The father should DEFINITELY REPORT THE VEHICLE STOLEN!

Once reported as stolen, the vehicle registration and VIN are entered into NCIC.

If the vehicle gets stopped for any reason or if the plate is run for any reason (by ANY law enforcement agency in the US), they'll get a "hit" on it.  (they will most probably look suspicious triggering the agency to run it for stolen)

Sure they will end up in custody, but at least they will be found !

Let's put this one at the top.

Kali - South Bay covered.  I spend a lot of time on the road, and I keep an ear on the scanner while I do it...

I know I'm a bit off I5, but I'll try...

FFZ, AFI

If the purse was stolen, were there credit or debit/atm cards?

I would call the companies on all cards.  They won't necessarily eat all the charges if a family member is involved, but they might.

However, it sounds like your concern is more for the safety of the young ones, and not so much financial.  

The card companies may be in a position to help you out by monitoring card approvals or charge activity, or ATM withdrawals.  Just what they'll do for you is another question, but if stuff is happening to Mom's accounts, she has a right to the information.  They might want some kind of agreement if more charges would go through, but if it helped you find them, it might be worth it.

Also, if the girl takes medication and possibly left without it, her doctor should be alerted to report calls for prescriptions or refills (which pharmacy, when and where).  Potenially if there was a delay after first contact by the pharmacy, the PD could be discreetly waiting when the kid arrives to pick it up later.

I'm airborne traffic patrol in Boise.  I'll keep an eye out.  Planerench out.

If they have a cell phone can be tracked call the phones company and tell them what is going on .they might not tell you direct but will tell police .can tell with in a one block radious were the phone is .good luck

IIRC, minors cannot be transported across state lines without a parent's premission.  If they are, its kidnapping.  Call the FBI, they'll help if there is even the possibility that they are going to or have crossed a state line.

Kharn

We're out traveling this weekend, I'll keep and eye out.
-Marksman762  [sniper]

I'll keep an eye on the CO ski areas as well.

SRM

Kharn is 100% correct...  please have this reported to the FBI as a kidnapping immediately!

The fact that credit cards have been stolen, is enough to involve the FBI, even if it is thought that they may still be in the state.

Please make sure your buddy understands that the police will not hurt the children, and unless he involves them, the 20 year old guy could be doing God knows what to them.

Basically, an APB needs to be put out ASAP!

I will add that if any FEDS happen to be reading this right now, then please take it upon yourselves to contact "lionhntr" at the cellular number he has listed in the opening post.

Absolutely report the van stolen, and get the FBI in on it as a kidnapping.  I believe all they need is reasonable suspicion that they may have crossed state lines.  Call the credit card companies, and get an up to the minute report of transactions on all credit and debit/bank cards.  Rather than cancel them, I would arrange (if possible..I would think they would) for them to call you immediately when they are used so you can get the location and notify the authorities.    If you are really lucky, they used or will use a credit card somewhere.  Get that info to the authorities, and they (and you) can concentrate on that area.  It sounds like you have most of the tools to put the search at least in the ballpark.  
Unless they stay local, the longer you wait, the further they get and it will get harder to find them.
Good luck, and all the best.

If she was reported as a "runaway" she should have been entered in the state and NCIC system as "missing/endangered". That will show up if an officer run a computer check on her. The "missing/endangered" can also be set up so that if the vehicle registration is run it will show the "missing/endangered" hit.

He should cancel all the credit/debit cards so they don't have the ability to get cash. Much easier to spot people that can't/won't stay in hotels.

I've passed on all of your advice.  After seaching for 2 days by land and air it does not seem possible they are still in the area unless they hid the vehicle.  

The credit cards haven't been used yet.
No cell phone.
My friend will be contacting the PD today to ensure the report made its way to the NCIC.

I'll keep ya posted on any new info.

THANKS AGAIN,

Ed

Don't rule out the midwest or even the east coast! Our LEO's pick up runaway kids all the time here in Ohio from CA, WA, OR because we have a major interchange that goes North, South, East and West. We also get a lot of goofy people too.

I did a air patrol once looking for a yellow van. After two hours in the air, everything looked like a yellow van. That's a tough job.

Scary stuff. I hope to turns out for the best.

Ok, definitely report it as a kidnapping.

What is the deal with the 20 y/o guy? Does any one know who he is exactly? Criminal record? WTF is a 20 y/o doing with girls of that age; regardless, he needs to be hunted down.

Good luck,

ARben

I would interview any friends of the daughter to see if maybe she mentioned anything about taking a road trip, or this 20 year old.

What the hell is a 20 yr. old doing hanging out with 13 year olds? Did anyone interview the 20 year olds friends/aquaintances? Check the places he was known to frequent.

Any known "hang-out" spots in the area? Maybe(hopefully) they didn't go very far after all...

Good luck.

A very happy ending indeed...  

Now, he needs to put a boot up his daughters ass for pulling that crap!

Re-read the first post...  He has posted the updates there!

I didn't read the original post but I'm glad it turned out okay.

I'm trying to think of where a mobile home is in the Ruch area.  I used to live up China Gulch many moons ago.

Thanks for keeping us informed.....I glad it turned out OK.

SRM

very glad to hear she's been found, and i'm assuming relatively without harm (before her parents get a-hold of her!  wink, wink!).

did she say what she was thinking or why she did what she did?  just curious.

Glad to here the good news anyone of us with kids can understand .

I'd still be VERY concerned.  I still want to know what's up with her hanging with a 20yo dude.  I hope nothing happened.  Gives me the heebie jeebies to even think about it.

Glad she's back and safe though.

Glad everything is okay now.

-Marksman762   [sniper]

That 20 year old punk still requires a nice beat down...

It turns out the reason for this mess (reason according to young teenage girls anyways) was that my buddy's daughter's friend was about to get in some deep doo-doo that would possibly land her in juvenille hall.  So they and the boy dreamed up this escape plan.  

This girl comes from a very f'd up homelife, her parents were not at all active in the search for their daughter.  When my buddy asked them for a picture, they acted like it was a total inconvenience to them.  When the daughter was returned to her parents her father just said "Well, I guess you're not dead in a ditch somewhere."  Nice.

My friend will now get full custody of the daughter, the x-wife is a looser and this happened on her watch.  His daughter will be writing apology letters to EVERYONE involed with the search, and is grounded until further notice.

As for the 20yr old, he will be getting a visit.

Thanks again,

Ed
ps, the Sherriff just got a no confidence vote from the employee union today.  REALLY.

Right on, 1shot.  I think it's called the Mann act.  Glad it turned out OK and hope the girls they both pass the EPT.