Zak's mum
posted a link to the following article in a local (to Hyde-Woodstock) newspaper...
Here's that piece transcribed (
cross post):
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Woodstock VillagerHyde student still missingEVELAND STILL LISTED AS RUNAWAYBY MATT SANDERSON VILLAGER STAFF WRITER
Vol. V, No. 6 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009
An updated photo of Zachary W. Eveland, with short hair. He has been missing from the Hyde School campus since Oct. 10.WOODSTOCK — A boy from Chicago who only attended Hyde School in Woodstock for less than two weeks has been missing for more than a month.
Zachary W. Eveland, 17, was reported last seen on the Hyde School campus Saturday, Oct. 10. Details of his whereabouts remain scarce. He was a junior at the school.
According to John Rigney, assistant head of school at Hyde, Zachary was reported missing to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by his mother, Pam Eveland. She also filed a report with Troop D in Danielson and has requested to withdraw him from the school.
"There's not really much information I can give," said Rigney. "He was transferred in. He was here for 10 days. We've been working with his mom to figure out his whereabouts. We've worked with authorities to help them out. We made a police report the night that he left."
Pam Eveland, who has been anxiously waiting at her home in Chicago to hear from her son, said she was distraught over not receiving any updates to the case until Tuesday, Nov. 10, when two breakthroughs were made.
When Hyde School shipped home Zachary's belongings, including his notebooks, Eveland said she found a notebook containing information about plans of running away. He allegedly does not have a cell phone or personal laptop in his possession, according to his mother.
"I found the notebook," she said. "It was shipped home. It looks like someone picked him up in a car. It look like he was with somebody."
Eveland said her son does have friends and contacts in various locations in the country, due to his involvement with a musical group in Chicago.
Also on Tuesday evening when she returned from work, Eveland had a call from the state police in Hartford, informing her that one of their officers might have seen Zachary at a Veterans Day parade. However, she added that the police officer on duty did not know Zachary was missing until he came back to the station and saw his picture.
"I have not confirmed that it was Zak and no one spoke to him," she said.
Prior to his disappearance, Eveland said her son had just returned From Hyde's wilderness program during his first few days at school in September and was reportedly doing well.
"We had been having trouble with him," she said. "he went to Hyde, we thought, with a pretty good attitude, but we're not sure by now if he was planning on staying."
Eveland said her son called home on the Wednesday prior to leaving campus to tell his parents that they had "ruined his life" by sending him to school, and that he was "really afraid" of his parents as to what school he would be sent to next.
"We just wanted to know that he's safe," she said.
A call made to a state trooper at the Troop D dispatch center on Tuesday indicated that Zachary's case was still open, but the investigator assigned to the case was on a two-week training course and could not return phone calls about the case.
Eveland said she has determined that her son has made several attempts to call his girlfriend in Chicago by pay phone before he left.
"I'm convinced she's telling the truth," Eveland said.
She added that her son did not have too many close friends at Hyde School. Attempts to check any digital computer communication have turned up scarce as well.
"I think he spent an hour at the Victoria Station Café before he left," said Eveland. "He told his girlfriend in Chicago that he sent her a message from a laptop. We did post a picture of Zach at the café."
According to an employee at Victoria Station Café, the poster is still on the bulletin board.
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Zachary Eveland is a white male, 5 feet 11 inches tall who weighs 155 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. Listed as an endangered runaway, he may go by the nickname Zach or Zak.
According to his mother, two photos of Zachary are posted on the center's Web site (
http://www.missingkids.com). One of the photos has the boy with long hair, while the other, more updated photo, has short hair. His mom said the short hair would most likely be his current hairstyle.
Anyone having any information about Zachary should call the center at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). Connecticut State Police is (860) 779-4900.
Matt Sanderson may be reached at (860) 928-1818, ext. 110, or by e-mail at [email protected]