http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_14656507Teen missing from San Rafael boys school might be headed to Santa Cruz By Cathy Kelly - Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted: 03/11/2010 12:51:59 PM PST
David Gordon
SAN RAFAEL - A 13-year-old Santa Cruz boy remains missing after running away from a residential school in San Rafael nearly two weeks ago.
Though investigators say he might be headed to Santa Cruz, family members here are anxiously waiting for some word of his whereabouts.
David Vernon Reece Gordon and a 12-year-old friend left St. Vincent's School for Boys about 11 a.m. on Feb. 27, authorities said. Family members and others say he has no history of running away.
His grandmother, Flora Mae Gordon, who lives in Paradise Park in Santa Cruz, says she has not slept in days she is so upset about the boy she and her husband have had custody of for years. Fliers about his disappearance have been placed throughout the Paradise Park community along Highway 9, while friends have posted them up the coast in Half Moon Bay and other areas, she said.
Marin County deputies say they believe he stole a green and white Strobe BMX bike, helmet, radio and night vision glasses from Toys 'R Us in San Rafael on Feb. 27 and then took off southbound and was last seen Feb. 28 near the Golden Gate Bridge, on the bike. They also say he reportedly somehow eluded a California Highway Patrol officer earlier that day, by giving the officer a fake name.
"The other boy returned; but our detectives are still actively investigating his disappearance," Marin County Sheriff's Sgt. Debra Barry said, declining to elaborate.
The teen's aunt, Sarah Jones of Fresno,
has spent days calling agencies in San Francisco and contacting missing children's agencies. The couple has a home near Fresno as well, she said, but David spent the President's Day weekend in Paradise Park.
He had been at the school and
residential treatment program since December, she said, and though there was no obvious thing that triggered his flight she believes he might be upset about his grandparents' recent health problems.
He is a "very kind, loving boy" who has emotional challenges yet is naive and above average intellectually, she said. His mother has a drug problem and his father was unable to care for him, and he has lived in several group homes, she said.
"He's had a lot on his little plate all his life," Jones said.
David needs medication for asthma and an undisclosed health issue, she said, calling the situation critical.
Jones, 50, who works at a family driving range and farming businesses, said she is hoping he is with other runaways, hiding, and will be found soon. It is too painful to think that "someone has him," she said.
"He's never gotten in trouble," she said. "I can hardly think about it; this has gone on so long now. We've called homeless shelters and hospitals and my husband went to all the known hangouts. There are a million kids missing in the Bay Area; I didn't realize how common this is."
She said there have been no leads, but that detectives believe he made it across the bridge.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office and other agencies are on the lookout as well, and Sheriff's Lt. Fred Plageman said he couldn't comment on the specifics, but that deputies commonly take reports about runaway teens, even those as young as 13.
"Each case really needs to be investigated on its own merits," he said. "But we will do everything we can to assist."
The director of St. Vincent's School, Dan Gallagher, said the treatment facility is not locked and that boys do run away.
"But it's extremely unusual for a kid to be gone this long," he said. "We are very concerned about him."
Gordon is 5 feet, 1 inch tall and weights about 115 pounds; he has brown hair with bangs, and brown eyes. He was wearing a dark-colored shirt, grey sweatshirt and black sweatpants with a white stripe down the side, and he was carrying a black backpack.
David is also listed on the National Missing and Exploited Children's Web site -
http://www.missingkids.com. Reach the Marin County Sheriff's Office at (415) 499-7265 or Santa Cruz County dispatchers at 471-1121.
