What started with a sighting at Kroger turned into a weekend-long game of hide-and-seek involving multiple runaway teens, group home staff, police officers, and concerned residents across Portsmouth.
🛒 KROGER EMPLOYEES SPOT RUNAWAYS
The situation began Thursday morning when the manager of Kroger called police after spotting several runaway juveniles inside the store.
When officers arrived, they took the teens into custody, contacted juvenile court, and were instructed to return the juveniles to their respective group homes.
Police also removed the teens from the missing persons registry.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the story.
🚔 FOUND ON US 23
Around 5 a.m. Friday, a Scioto County Sheriff’s deputy located another missing juvenile walking along US 23 near a counseling facility.
A Portsmouth officer responded, picked up the teen, and transported the juvenile back to a group home.
👀 THEN THEY RAN AWAY AGAIN
Over the course of the weekend, the same group home reported the same juveniles missing multiple times.
At one point, a group home employee located one of the girls and returned her to the facility.
Witnesses reported the other two girls had been spotted near Pizza Hut and were believed to be heading toward Kentucky.
Three hours later, the girl who had just been returned reportedly walked away again.
Officers began another search, including checking abandoned houses and other locations where runaway juveniles are sometimes known to hide.
🌙 BOWLING ALLEY, SONORA’S, AND HISLE PARK
The juveniles were eventually located and returned.
Then they disappeared again.
The following evening, officers received information that the girls had been seen near Sonora’s.
When police responded, the juveniles reportedly fled behind the bowling alley.
Officers searched the area but were unable to immediately locate them.
The search continued until around 11 p.m. Sunday, when residents at Hisle Park Apartments reported seeing two of the missing girls.
This time, Portsmouth officers were able to take the juveniles into custody and return them to the group home once again.
But the runaway saga still wasn’t over.
After leaving the facility once again, on Sunday, two of the juveniles were eventually located in Lawrence County on Monday afternoon.
Around 2 p.m., Portsmouth police received a call from the Coal Grove Police Department advising that officers there had found two of the missing runaways.
According to the report, one of the juveniles was turned over to Adams County authorities and was being transported back to Adams County Children’s Services.
The second juvenile was picked up by staff from the group home and returned once again to the facility.
⚖️ WHY POLICE KEEP BRINGING THEM BACK
Many readers ask why juveniles aren’t simply arrested when they repeatedly run away.
The answer is complicated.
Running away from a group home is generally not a criminal offense.
Instead, officers are tasked with locating the juveniles and returning them to the custody of the agency, group home, or court responsible for their care.
In this case, reports indicate juvenile detention centers were either unavailable or lacked space, leaving authorities with limited options beyond repeatedly returning the girls to the same placement.
🏠 A CHALLENGE FACED ACROSS OHIO
Child welfare agencies throughout Ohio have increasingly struggled to find placements for high-risk juveniles, particularly those with behavioral, mental health, or trauma-related issues.
As a result, police departments often find themselves responding to the same runaway calls over and over again.
For Portsmouth officers, it was a busy weekend of chasing leads, checking abandoned buildings, responding to citizen tips, and repeatedly returning the same juveniles to the same facility.
The bigger question remains whether that facility is the right place for them in the first place.
