ELIZABETH "Joey" RANDLE - 15 yo - Horn Lake (S of TN line/Memphis) MS

HORN LAKE - A Horn Lake mom whose daughter has not come home since
sneaking out Tuesday night said she doubts the 15-year-old intended to
stay gone so long and is worried for her safety.
"I can't tell that she's packed a bag, took anything," Jessi Randle said against the
argument Joey has run away.



Randle does not dispute Joey left home on her own accord
but wonders if something or someone is keeping her from returning.
"My thinking is she snuck out thinking she'd be back
before I got up and couldn't make it," she said. "I hope I'm wrong and she's just messing around though."
Randle last saw daughter Joey, who is home schooled and had recently been grounded, about 11 p.m. Tuesday.
"When I woke up, she was gone," she said.
Horn Lake Police Lt. Scott Evans said a detective has been assigned the missing person case but, as of Friday,
had few leads remaining.
Police officers did not find any sign of Joey Randle when they
searched a wooded area and reported teen gathering spot behind the
Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market on Wednesday.
Evans said in all likelihood the teenager would come home when she is ready.
"We've never had a case like this as far as I can remember that hasn't turned
out to be a runaway; not to say (a kidnapping) couldn't happen today," he said.
According to Evans, Horn Lake police handle about two
missing person cases involving pre-teens and teens each month.
"I can't recall any of them being gone for a long length of time over a couple of days," he said.
Since March 24, seven missing person
cases have been reported in Horn Lake and all but one of them closed
when the person involved came home. The only unresolved case is Joey Randle's.
Anyone with information about the teen or her whereabouts is encouraged to call Horn Lake police at 662-393-6174.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:HORN LAKE - A Horn Lake mom whose daughter has not come home since
sneaking out Tuesday night said she doubts the 15-year-old intended to
stay gone so long and is worried for her safety.
"I can't tell that she's packed a bag, took anything," Jessi Randle said against the
argument Joey has run away.
Randle does not dispute Joey left home on her own accord but wonders if something or someone is keeping
her from returning.
"My thinking is she snuck out thinking she'd be back before I got up and couldn't make it," she said. "I hope I'm
wrong and she's just messing around though."
Randle last saw daughter Joey, who is home schooled and had
recently been grounded, about 11 p.m. Tuesday.
"When I woke up, she was gone," she said.
Horn Lake Police Lt. Scott Evans said a
detective has been assigned the missing person case but, as of Friday,
had few leads remaining.
Police officers did not find any sign of Joey Randle when they
searched a wooded area and reported teen gathering spot behind the
Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market on Wednesday.
Evans said in all likelihood the teenager would come home when she is ready.
"We've never had a case like this as far as I can remember that hasn't turned
out to be a runaway; not to say (a kidnapping) couldn't happen today," he said.
According to Evans, Horn Lake police handle about two
missing person cases involving pre-teens and teens each month.
"I can't recall any of them being gone for a long length of time over a
couple of days," he said.
Since March 24, seven missing person
cases have been reported in Horn Lake and all but one of them closed
when the person involved came home. The only unresolved case is Joey Randle's.
Anyone with information about the teen or her
whereabouts is encouraged to call Horn Lake police at 662-393-6174.

*Red by me. Not a good attitude to take. Seems this idiot doesn't keep up with the news, some runaways don't come home on their own two feet, the come in a body bag! I can understand him maybe wanting to keep the panic away but, to come out with a comment like that just rubs me the wrong way.
The scariest part for me is, doesn't he realize that NO PLACE is safe anymore, just because they
haven't had a kidnapping or child murder yet doesn't mean they won't, it's just a matter of time.

The search is widening for a missing Horn Lake girl who was last seen
at her home on May 18.

The mother of the missing girl, 15-year-old Jo Elizabeth 'Joey'
Randle, is organizing a community-wide search for Saturday to hunt for
clues.

"We will need as many volunteers as possible so that we can split up
and canvas (sic) particular areas and neighborhoods," Jessi Randle said
in an e-mail seeking help from friends and colleagues.

Randle, business coordinator for the Horn Lake Chamber of Commerce,
said Thursday her daughter went to sleep in Randle's bed on May 18, and
the youth was gone when Randle got up.

Randle said there were no signs the house had been broken into and
there's been no word since then from her daughter, her only child.

Randle said she fears her daughter may have sneaked out on her own
with the intention of returning but something happened.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has become
involved, Randle said, and Horn Lake police are asking for public
assistance.

Lt. Scott Evans of the Horn Lake Police Department said the case was
initially treated as a runaway but is now being looked at as a
missing-person case.

"With a runaway, we usually hear something after a few days," Evans
said. "In this case, there's been no contact whatsoever."

The missing youth is the granddaughter of Larry Witherspoon,
executive director of the Horn Lake Chamber of Commerce.

Volunteers who can assist with Saturday's search are asked to gather
at 10 a.m. at James Walthal Memorial Park, Hurt Road and Meadowbrook in
Horn Lake.

She was missing for ten days, but now a Horn Lake teen is home and safe.
Jo Randle was found in the Winchester-Hermitage area of Memphis Thursday
night. Police say she was at a gas station with an older man she had befriended.
Flyers with her picture were hung up all over Horn
Lake. Police say 15 year-old had left home without leaving a note,
packing a bag- or even taking a toothbrush.
“She just dropped off the face of the earth” says Lt. Scott Evans
with the Horn Lake Police Department.
When days passed without any contact from Randle,
investigators started to worry she could be in danger. Her case was
reclassified to missing person, and made a top priority.
“Patrol officers were out looking for her and searching wooded areas and vacant
homes” says Evans. “It taxes us sometimes when you're having to put all
your resources on one case.”
Evans says the man Randle was with
saw her story on the news, and convinced the teen to call police.
Now that she's back at home, Randle is having to face the music.
“She's actually been served with a juvenile arrest and summons to appear in youth court.”
Evans says she'll likely be assigned a counselor,
and may be put on probation. Her case reminds him of a similar one from earlier this year.
When 13 year-old Tamara Bradford went missing,
her loved ones were frantic. She too was found in Memphis, unharmed.
Her family says she ran off with a 24 year-old she met online.
“I think they just wanted their freedom and didn't realize they could get
in trouble” says Evans.
Now that school's out, police are getting
more reports of teen runaways. Lt. Evans says already this week, he's
gotten three calls. In all of those cases, the kids returned home within a day or so.
It's not clear if the man Randle was with will face
any charges. Evans says that would be up to her family and Memphis Police.