Three children remain missing in Ohio after they are believed to run away together earlier this week.
Police issued an alert on the same day and are searching for leads on the children’s whereabouts. All three were captured on surveillance video walking on Route 40 in Reynoldsburg at about 6 p.m. on Monday. Authorities reportedly believe the children had told classmates as school that they planned to run away.
13-year-old Emily Blake, 12-year-old Maranda Prater, and 14-year-old David Prater were reported missing from Tollgate Road in Etna Township , Ohio. Emily is 5'0, 120 pounds, and white w/ brown hair & eyes; she was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black tennis pic.twitter.com/nf604hDGMl
— Missing Persons Planet (@Home4theMissing) August 27, 2019
A woman who said she was Emily’s grandmother posted a photo on Facebook that she said was taken by a bank surveillance camera on Monday. In it, the three children are seen walking closely together and wearing backpacks.
Family members told the news station they were surprised that the children, who all play musical instruments and had just started the new school year, would choose to leave.
“[Emily] was real excited,” Blake’s stepmother Samantha Queen told the news station. “She started school on Friday. She came home and told us she loved it and there was a whole bunch of cute boys. She was excited and ready to go back on Monday. Then, I don’t know what changed.”
“We love them and miss them and we just want them to come home safe,” the girl’s father, Travis Wilson, said. “And, we just want to know they’re OK.”
Relatives told the news station they heard rumors that the children may have planning to go to Linden, Cleveland, or Detroit.
The family has collected donations and dedicated personal funds to a $500 reward for information.
“It’s sad that we got to do something like that but if that’s what it takes to make sure they’re safe…it’s all that matters,” Wilson told WBNS.
Anyone with information is urged to contact that Licking County Sheriffs Detective Justin Woodyard At 740-670-5500 Option 1.
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