Kennedy, who has been working with runaways for nine of his 22 years as an officer, and Palardy said they sympathize with parents about the obstacles they face in getting help for their runaway children. Even minors can't be forced into counseling or drug treatment without a judge's order, the detectives said.
Aquilla Rogers, who lives in Montgomery Village, said she is frustrated about what she believes is a lack of options to help her 14-year-old daughter, Adreanna, an honors student who has run away four times. This time, she said, her daughter has been missing for more than a month.
Detectives Victor Kennedy and Karen Palardy follow a lead in Silver Spring in their search for a missing teenager. County police handled about 1,800 cases of runaways last year. Children as young as 10 have fled, and they have been found as far away as Hawaii. Many run away more than once.
(Photos Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
|
|
A county support group did nothing but expose her daughter to more experienced runaways, Rogers said, and Adreanna ran away again after her second meeting.
"I've basically been told there's no help unless I have $50,000 to send her to a private [drug treatment] program," Rogers said.
She said she's worried her daughter will turn to prostitution to support herself.
"Her answer to everybody was that she ran away because she wanted to have fun," Rogers said. "She said there were too many rules at home. . . . You worry every day, but at this point I can just pray."
A Tall Caseload
Palardy's cubicle in the Family Crimes Division in a red brick office complex off East Gude Drive in Rockville is full of neat stacks of paper-clipped packets. Each packet represents a missing child. Upon arriving at the office on a recent Monday morning, eight new cases greeted her.
"This, unfortunately, is my open [cases] pile," Palardy said, pointing to the tallest stack, six inches tall.
Palardy thumbed through the 25 cases. She said she's pretty sure where some of the children are, but she doesn't close the case until they are back home or living somewhere else with a parent's permission.
"He's back," she said, seeing a familiar name on a new runaway report. "He has a 30-year-old girlfriend, and he's 16."
Palardy usually begins an investigation by calling a parent or guardian to make sure the child hasn't returned home and to learn about his or her favorite hangouts. Most important, she tries to get the names and phone numbers of friends. Palardy said she is surprised that some parents can't recall the last name of anyone their child hangs around. But some have kept close tabs, routinely checking their children's cell phones to collect phone numbers of calls going in and out.
If an older child has his or her own cell phone, Palardy said, she'll often try calling it next.
One recent morning, Palardy called the cell phone of a missing 16-year-old Olney boy who she suspects is living with older friends from his job.
"Hey, it's Karen Palardy from Montgomery County police," she said, leaving a message. "I know you left home, and I talked to your mom. I just want to talk to you about what's going on at home and why you left."
