TARA YUNKER - 16 yo - Volusia/Broward County FL

Help Sought In Volusia Co. Missing Teen Case

POSTED: 4:32 pm EDT September 8, 2010
UPDATED: 5:06 pm EDT September 8, 2010

Volusia County FL -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in finding a missing teenager.Authorities do not believe Tara Yunker, 16, is in danger, but they say she has a drug addiction.Yunker left a note saying she was leaving on a bus on Friday and would soon return home, authorities said.The teen’s mother thinks she may be somewhere in Brevard County.

Additional information about her disappearance was posted on volusiacrimestoppers.com:"The family has had no contact with Tara since she left the note and they are very concerned she is in danger. Tara Yunker may be in the company of another runaway/missing juvenile, Brittany Weiss out of Broward County. Tara and Brittany have possibly been [seen] on Foxwood Drive in Melbourne, Florida," volusiacrimestoppers.com said.Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Beth Fortin at (386) 423-3301.

Authorities are asking for help in locating a 16-year-old girl with a history of drug problems who has been missing from her New Smyrna Beach home since Friday and may be with another runaway.The Volusia County Sheriff's Office today said Tara Jean Yunker is not considered "endangered," but she has abused prescription pills and alcohol.A note was left at her home saying she was running away and she was leaving on a bus. The note said she would return soon.The girl's mother reported her missing Friday night. The mother said her daughter might be in Brevard County."The mother told deputies that Yunker has a chronic addiction to prescription narcotics and as a result had previously been in a rehabilitation program,'' the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.Additional information about her disappearance was posted on volusiacrimestoppers.com:"The family has had no contact with Tara since she left the note and they are very concerned she is in danger. Tara Yunker may be in the company of another runaway/missing juvenile, Brittany Weiss out of Broward County. Tara and Brittany have possibly been [seen] on Foxwood Drive in Melbourne, Florida," volusiacrimestoppers.com said.Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Beth Fortin at (386) 423-3301.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Volusia County deputies need your help finding a missing 16-year-old girl.

Tara Jean Yunker has not been seen since Friday. Deputies said they do not think Tara is in any danger, but she has had problems abusing prescription drugs in the past. Investigators said Tara left a note at her home on Juanita Drive, in New Smyrna Beach, implying that she had run away. In the note, she said she was going to leave on a bus, but would return soon. Family and friends said they have not seen Tara since. The teen’s mother reported her missing Friday night, telling deputies that Tara has a chronic addiction to prescription narcotics, and has previously been gone through rehabilitation. Her mother added she believes Tara could be in Brevard County. A friend of Tara’s set up an informational Facebook group, which listed a number of possible companions.

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106663072727527

Friends of 16-year-old Tara Yunker hope the more than 700 followers on their Facebook page will help them in their search for the missing teen.
Dozens of friends and others have posted pictures, well-wishes and other comments on the "Help Find Tara Yunker" page launched Tuesday.
The girl was last seen Sept. 3.
"Tara is a severe asthmatic who has been hospitalized on multiple occasions due to complications from her asthma," the Facebook page shows. "She is believed to be in medical danger, as she did not take any of her daily prescription medication with her. She needs these medications in order to live."
Jeannie Yunker, the girl's mother, had discovered a note "indicating that [Tara] was going on a bus and would be home soon and not to worry or call the police," according to Volusia County deputies.
Her mother told Volusia County Sheriff's Office investigators her daughter might be with Broward County friend Brittany Weiss — who also is reported missing.



Although deputies with the Broward County Sheriff's Office offered no information on Brittany, the Facebook page set up for Tara shows the 16-year-old Broward County girl was last seen on the same date Tara disappeared.
Jeannie Yunker told Volusia County deputies her daughter has a "chronic addiction to prescription narcotics" and had recently met Brittany at a drug rehabilitation center. Her mother could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The Facebook page shows multiple pictures of the two teenagers, as well as friends suspected of knowing Tara's whereabouts.
According to the Sheriff's Office report, her mother told deputies her daughter also could be taking drugs with several of the boys she has met online.
Deputies tried to reach Tara on her cell phone, but it was turned off, authorities said. Investigators tried to contact the wireless provider, but said they couldn't reach the company because the cell phone was on a pre-paid account.

what does the cell phone being on a prepaid account have to do with anything? are they saying prepaids can't be tracked?

Police said they found missing 16-year-old Tara Yunker in Melbourne on Thursday and that she had ingested a large amount of oxycodone and Xanax.Brandon Haught of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office today said Melbourne police found the New Smyrna Beach teen and admitted her to Wuesthoff Medical Center because of the drugs she had taken.Haught said officials also will have her involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation after she leaves the hospital.She has been missing since Sept. 3.Her mother, Jeannie Yunker, had told investigators she feared for her daughter's safety because she has a "chronic addiction to prescription narcotics," according to a Sheriff's Office report.Officials did not know if her 16-year-old friend Brittany Weiss had been found with Tara. That juvenile is from Broward County. She went missing the same day Tara had disappeared.Tara's mother had told Volusia County investigators she thought her daughter had disappeared with Brittany.The two teens had met during a drug-rehabilitation program, her mother told investigators.Tara's friends on Tuesday had launched the "Help Find Tara Yunker" Facebook page with the hopes of drumming up interest in the search for the missing teen.The Facebook page contained pictures of both teens and by Friday had attracted more than 800 members.Few details were released how Tara was found. One report said she was found in a house on White Oak Circle.

wow - how at 16 do you get chronically addicted to pain killers - i hope she gets the help she needs. am very glad she was found and hospitalized

Ovie, Oxycodone is commonly called Hillbilly Heroin and is sold illegally by people who doctor shop etc. The sort of thing the Croslin's and Ron Cummings are into selling. I also suspect Raisa and Alan Bernabe may have been into selling it as well. It was one of the drugs found in Nicholas's system. Tara Yunker may have come across this drug on the street rather than having been subscribed it. It is extremely addictive, like heroin as it is an opiate. Here's some more info.
Oxycodone is a painkiller derived from the opium poppy plant. It is a synthetic drug, meaning that it is chemically altered in the laboratory. Sold mostly in prescription pill form, oxycodone is meant to be used by people suffering moderate to severe pain that is expected to last for more than a few weeks. The drug must be used with great care, since it can be habit-forming even for people who take it as directed. For those who use it illegally, it can be as addictive—and every bit as dangerous—as heroin. (An entry on heroin is available in this encyclopedia.)Oxycodone can be found in many prescription painkillers. But it is mainly associated with three brand-name drugs: 1) Percocet, a combination of oxycodone hydrochloride and acetaminophen (Tylenol); 2) Percodan, a combination of oxycodone hydrochloride and aspirin; and 3) OxyContin, a time-release formula of oxycodone hydrochloride. These prescription medicines also find their way into drug dealers' hands and are sold to users who want to get high. Since its introduction in the mid-1990s, OxyContin, in particular, has become a widely abused drug in some parts of the United States. The federal government and the maker of the drug, Purdue Pharma, are working together to reduce OxyContin abuse.