Police say they want to learn more from a missing Clearfield teenager about why she apparently ran away from home two months ago.
Now, the two men who they say traveled with her are expected to face several charges.
Police say they believe the trio met on social media, and that the girl, who recently turned 16, apparently went willingly with Austin Patterson, 21, Clearfield, and Kevin Osborn, 26, Greenup, Ky., formerly of Clearfield.
Police say they used a car owned by Osborn’s fiancé that was, in effect, stolen.
“They wanted to go to the beach. They planned to go to the beach,” says Lawrence Township Police Officer Shawn Kronenwetter. “We did find surveillance at a hotel in Dewey Beach.”
Little did anyone know, the teenager wasn’t anywhere in this area, or even this state.
She was found about 1,000 miles away from home in Lincoln, Nebraska, police said.
“We were on them, on their tail probably two or three times, whether they were in Dewey Beach, and then here at the end in Lincoln, Nebraska,” says Kronenwetter.
Police say with the help of tracking Osborn’s phone, and a call police made five days ago to U.S. Marshals, they found the car in Lincoln.
“They went to the trailer park, waited, I’d say it was anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes,” says Kronenwetter.
The teen was transferred to a children’s services office while awaiting a reunion with her mom on Thursday afternoon.
“I believe she said they were about an hour away,” Kronenwetter said on Thursday.
Since the case started early on Oct. 6 on Turnpike Avenue, police say officers from Dewey Beach, Del., Maryland, the Carloinas, and Greenup, Ky., assisted.
“There were messages through Facebook, pictures, rumors or talk floating around they were in Washington, D.C.,” says Kronenwetter.
Police say the girl could face a misdemeanor charge.
“At times, I felt discouraged. I felt like I didn’t have the answers for these parents. I didn’t want to ever give up,” says Kronenwetter.