BRYNNE KURMAS - 15 yo - Methuen (I-93; NH border) MA

I posted this last week and it was deleted. Trying again.

URGENT ENDANGERED MISSING TEEN - Brynne Kurmas, 15 - Methuen, Massachusetts






A 15 year old teen, Brynne Kurmas, is missing from school in Methuen, Massachusetts. Brynne walked away from St. Ann’s Home & School on Tuesday, March 08, 2011 in the evening. Brynne was not dressed appropriately for the weather. She was wearing a black tank top, black pants, a black-and-white sweater and white flip flops.

Multiple police agencies from Massachusetts and New Hampshire have been searching for Brynne and ask the public to please keep a look out for her. She has an undisclosed medical condition, due to privacy, and the need is urgent to locate her.

A river search began this morning after flip-flops and eyeglasses belonging to Brynne Kurmas, a resident of St. Ann’s Home & School on Haverhill Street, were found on a bench overlooking the falls.

Police Chief Capt. Kris McCarthy said the flip-flops and eyeglasses were not there last night. Kurmas has been missing since Tuesday night.

The shoes and glasses could be seen sitting neatly placed on a park bench near the bridge behind 51 Osgood St.

“For the time-being, search of the river is suspended,” said Police Chief Joseph Solomon. “Based on the inability to shut the dam flow, and speaking with the dive team which says it is too unsafe to go into that part of the river, there is nothing left for us to do but keep an eye on the riverbanks.”

He said other departments downstream of Methuen, in particular Lawrence, are looking for the girl as well.

“We are also trying to find other leads,” he said. “But all indications are that she would be in the water. But that’s not enough until you’ve recovered the person. We are continuing to follow leads. We have Facebook monitoring her account, and our social media people are searching the Web as well.

“Since we’ve become aware of her missing, there’s been no activity electronically, which is a bad sign.”

He added, “Detectives are meeting with the family to find out if there are any other locations that should be checked.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Methuen Police commanding officer at 978-983-8698, your local police or 9-1-1.

State Police join search for missing teen in Methuen

March 10, 2011 01:57 PM

By Jenna Duncan, Globe Correspondent

A State Police dive team and helicopter have been dispatched to the Spicket River in Methuen this afternoon to aid local police in the search for 15-year-old Brynne Kurmas, who has been missing since Tuesday night, police said.


Brynne Kurmas

Kurmas left a group home in Methuen, Lieutenant Michael Pappalardo said. She was last seen wearing dark pajama or sweatpants, flip-flops and a white sweater.

"Basically right now we are focusing our efforts in the Spicket River,” said Pappalardo. “There’s some indication that she may have been in that area.”

Anyone with information can contact the Methuen Police Department at 978-983-8698.

March 14, 2011

Volunteers walk Spicket River looking for missing teen


METHUEN - It was a bittersweet morning yesterday as 65 volunteers, many unpaid Methuen police officers, gathered to search for Brynne Kurmas, a 15-year-old girl who snuck out of her group home Tuesday and hasn't been seen since.

"It is a sad day that we have to do this. But it shows we are a wonderful community...Thank you all for coming out on a Sunday morning," said Mayor William Manzi before the group headed out to search the river yesterday. The search lasted about three hours.

A backpack was found, but its unclear if it belongs to Kurmas. The location of the bag in the quick running river made it impossible for police to grab it yesterday.

As early as today, divers could be in the water, retrieving the backpack and trying to find anything else connected to the missing teen who was living at St. Ann's home on Haverhill Street. Police believe the teen broke a screen and escaped through a window at the home on Tuesday.

Then, flip flops and eyeglasses believed to belong to Kurmas were found Thursday on a bench near a footbridge over the 20-foot high Spicket Falls Dam. The discovery sparked fears the teenager, who has a medical condition, had fallen or jumped into the Spicket River.

The teen was last seen wearing a black tank top, black pants, a black and white sweater and white flip flops. She is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 152 pounds, according to police alerts.

Kurmas is in the custody of the state's Department of Children and Family services, which works with St. Ann's home.

Since Kurmas was reported missing, police have been monitoring her e-mail and social networking sites. However, there has been no recent activity, Police Chief Joseph Solomon said.

"There has been no electronic footprint," Solomon said. Yet, there is hope Kurmas could be found alive and unharmed.

"There is always a possibility ... There is always that hope," Solomon said.

Searchers yesterday were split into 14 teams of 4 or 5 people. Each team was given a section of the river to search. Capt. Randy Haggar urged the teams to take their time. If they found anything the least bit suspicious, they were to notify the team leader who would contact him.


"We just want to put the family at ease," Haggar told the volunteers, which included police, Methuen residents on the city's Citizens Emergency Response Team and staffers from St. Ann's Home and School where Kurmas lived.

John Santoro, a police officer and the city's emergency management director, told the group to use extreme caution, noting the riverbanks would be muddy and slippery.

A state police helicopter hovered over the search area and a mobile command unit, a Winnebago with police equipment, set up behind the Methuen Memorial Music Hall. Members of the Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council staffed the command center, including James Trombly, IT director for the city of Woburn, Richard Landers of the Concord Police Department and Jamie Mondalto, a 911 dispatcher from the town of Danvers.

Using specialized equipment, the mobile command unit was able to link computers in the state police helicopters. This gave officials in the command center a virtual view on the Spicket River search, Solomon noted.

While running high and fast, the river water was also a murky black and difficult to see through yesterday, when the weather was cloudy.

Currently, the river is at a very high level due to snow melt and rain early last week. A sunny day may have provided searchers with a better view through the water, officials said.

Police officers on ATVs also checked the railroad tracks that run nearby the river, Haggar said.

Haggar said a search of the river will continue, not only to recover the back pack, but also in other areas where debris was found and there were areas of thick vegetation that were difficult to search. Small watercraft, including canoes and kayaks, will be used to search the river.

"We are going to continue our efforts. Our searches will be ongoing until all avenues are exhausted," Haggar said.

Residents who come across anything suspicious in and along the river should notify police immediately. Do not touch the items, as it could be evidence, Haggar said.

The teen's disappearance has also struck a chord with local parents.

Robin Guzelian, a local mom, said she took it upon herself to search the area near the falls and behind the music hall.

"Nothing bothers me more then to see children so lost in this crazy world of ours," said Guzelian.

A police investigation into Kurmas' disappearance has revealed the teen left St. Ann's on two occasions previously but returned a short time later. St. Ann's offers day programs and residential services to emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children.


Some children are allowed to come and go from the home. However, Kurmas was not allowed to leave unsupervised, said Dennis Grandbois, St. Ann's president and CEO.

METHUEN — Police found the body of a young girl in the Spicket River
behind the Methuen Village at Riverwalk Park apartments on Gleason
Street this morning.

Police Chief Joseph Solomon said they believe it is the body of
15-year-old Brynne Kurmas, who walked away from the St. Ann's Home &
School March 8.

Her flip-flops and eyeglasses were found on a bench near a footbridge
over the 20-foot high Spicket Falls Dam March 10. The discovery sparked
fears the teenager, who has a medical condition, had fallen or jumped
into the Spicket River.

A team of state police divers and Methuen Police officers went out to
search for Kurmas this morning. The divers waded the shallow river
without tanks on, looking under trees and other debris at a bend in the
river. That is where they found the body.

Solomon said the identity of body found still needs to be confirmed
before they can say it is Kurmas. The area is now cordoned off as
investigators remove the body from the river.

Solomon said Methuen Police have been out along the river every day
searching for Kurmas. He said "we were all hoping" to find evidence she
was still alive.
http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1281097519/Body-found-in-Methuen-believed-to-be-that-of-missing-girl

http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x598325171/-Sad-bittersweet-end-to-a-search-for-Brynne

April 1, 2011
"Sad," "bittersweet" end to a search for Brynne
By Bill Kirk
bkirk@eagletribune.com

..."The school released a statement from the girl's parents, Paul Kurmas and Michelle Stiller.

"Today we say goodbye to our daughter Brynne," the statement said. "All we know for sure is that she left the home that night and that she was found today. Everything else is between Brynne and God. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has searched for Brynne over the last three weeks and to everyone who has shared their love with us through their prayers."...

St. Ann's Home & School website.

http://www.st.annshome.org/site/Programs/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

Focus is on what protocol should be in place to help children. Click link to read further, please.

http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x740874577/Chief-Girl-left-group-home-twice-before-disappearing

March 13, 2011
Chief: Girl left group home twice before disappearing
By J.J. Huggins
jhuggins@eagletribune.com

"METHUEN — The 15-year-old girl who is missing after running away from a group home last Tuesday left her facility twice in the past, said police Chief Joseph Solomon.

Solomon said the investigation into Brynne Kurmas' disappearance revealed that the teen left St. Ann's Home and School on May 17 and on another occasion without staff notifying police.

Kurmas was only gone for a short time in both of those incidents, but the chief said it would have been good for police to have been alerted because that might have indicated that she was planning something.

"So we would have already reached out, contacted the family," Solomon said.

In one instance, Kurmas was found directly outside the home. In the other, she was found down the street, Solomon said."...