MADELINE HARRIS - 15 yo - Olympia WA

Olympia girl remains missing after 3 weeks
Published May 26, 2011


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Almost three weeks have passed since 15-year-old Capital High
School sophomore Madeline “Maddy” Harris disappeared, and authorities
have no leads on where she might be.

Harris’ family has set up a Facebook page devoted to finding her
that has more than 2,700 followers, and posters with her photo have been
put up all over Olympia.An investigator assigned to Harris’ case
has interviewed friends, family members and an ex-boyfriend, Thurston
County Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said.Elwin said there is no information to indicate that Harris is a victim of a crime.The
Washington State Patrol also has a flyer on its website with Harris’
photo and the details of her case.
Harris’ mother, Julie Harris, and her father Jeff, are both extremely
concerned and want to bring their daughter home safe, Julie Harris said.“I just want her home,” Julie Harris said. “… She is very missed. Her dad and I miss her so much.”Elwin
said there is some evidence Harris could have left the state and gone
to California, Nevada, or Oregon. A journal Harris left behind indicated
that she left home voluntarily, he said.Julie Harris said that
to the best of her knowledge, Maddy has not contacted any of her closest
friends since she ran away. “For her not to reach out to one friend is
very unlike her,” Julie Harris said. Maddy did not take her cell phone
with her when she ran away, and no family has heard from her either,
Julie hHarris said.Julie Harris said she has been out every day posting fliers and looking for her daughter.Teenage
runaways are not uncommon in Thurston County, Elwin said. He said the
sheriff’s office averages anywhere from three to six runaway reports a
week. “The vast majority of those are found,” he said. The sheriff’s
office currently has seven pending teenage runaway reports that have not
been cleared, and those cases include Harris’, he added.Anyone
with information on Harris’ whereabouts is encouraged to call the
Thurston County Sheriff’s Office at 360-786-5500; the WSP Missing
Persons Unit at 1-800-543-5678.
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/05/26/1665811/olympia-girl-remains-missing-after.html#ixzz1NV9Vtl00

Thurston County sheriff’s detectives found missing 15-year-old Olympia teen Madeline “Maddy” Harris safe at a Shelton motel Thursday afternoon, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin.
Harris had been missing since May 7, when she left home, according to the sheriff’s office.
Elwin said detectives began looking for Harris in the Shelton area
after someone made an iTunes purchase in her name. Detectives tracked
down an IP address for the computer at a Shelton motel Thursday, but she
was not there, Elwin said. After that, “old-fashioned detective work”
interviewing people in the Shelton area led investigators to another
motel room about noon, where they found Harris alone, Elwin said.
Elwin said Harris has been reunited with her family. She had not been harmed, he added.
Maddy’s stepmother, Kelly Harris, said everyone is happy she has been found safe.
“This entire thing has been a nightmare,” she said.
The Harris family still plans to have a birthday potluck for Maddy Tuesday at a park.
During the more than a month that Maddy was missing, a Facebook page
devoted to finding her had more than 2,700 followers. Kelly Harris said
that while Maddy was missing, she learned of hundreds of families who
had similar experiences in trying to find missing teens.
“What this whole nightmare has really opened our eyes to is that there are a whole lot of kids that need options,” she said.
Elwin said detectives will interview Maddy to determine her
whereabouts when she was missing. He described her as cooperative after
she was found Thursday.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2015279122_teenfound10.html