CHRISTOPHER HARTHORNE - 15 yo - Marissa (SE of St Louis) IL

Marissa Police searching for missing teen with special needs

(Marissa, IL) KSDK--Marissa Police are searching for a missing teenager with special needs.
Christopher Harthorne, 15, was last seen around 6:30 p.m. Saturday riding a silver Mongoose BMX style bicycle along Illinois State Route 13.
He's described as 5'10", 115 lbs, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a black baseball cap, blue jeans and white tennis shoes. Police say Harthorne has trouble with verbal communication and has a history of running away.
Anyone with any information is urged to call the Marissa Police Department at 618 295-3022.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=217319&catid=3

Christopher Harthorne, 15, has been missing since Saturday night. The Marissa, IL teen was last seen riding is bicycle along Route 13 in Marissa. His parents say their son is bi-polar and needs daily medication.His bicycle is a silver Mongoose BMX style bike with black handles. Harthorne is about 5'9" tall, weighs about 115 pounds with brown hair and hazel-colored eyes. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, black cap and tennis shoes.

His father issued an emotional for plea for his son to come home. "If you're out there and you see this, we love you," said a tearful Roderick Harthorne, Christopher's Father. "Just come home to us."Searchers from police and fire departments throughout southern Illinois joined in on the search during the daylight hours on Sunday."We've looked in ditches, in creeks and everything," Said Chief Kevin Leemon, Marissa Fire Department.

The terrain is tough so searchers even resorted to a helicopter for a view from the sky. All of the efforts produced few clues. "We have no direction that he went in particular so so we're trying to span out in every way we can," said Leemon.Harthorne's parents gathered with family and friends at their house in Marissa holding on to hope while trying not to fear the worst."We're scared that he could either be hurt laying in some road or dead," said Roderick Harthorne.Anyone with information should call the Marissa Police Department at 1-618-295-3022.

Authorities are resuming their southern Illinois search for a missing special-needs teenager.

Authorities suspended their efforts to find 15-year-old Christopher Harthorne on Sunday night.

The teenager was last seen about 6:30 p.m. Saturday riding a silver Mongoose BMX-style bicycle along Illinois Route 13.

Police say he has a history of running away, though the boy's parents say he's never been gone so long.

Authorities say the 5-foot-10, 115-pound boy with brown hair and hazel eyes needs daily medication for a bipolar disorder. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes.

Anyone who sees the boy should call Marissa police.

Friends and family are still searching for a missing Marissa Illinois teen. 15-year-old Christopher Harthorne hasn't been seen since Saturday night. There is a great determination among volunteers, many of them strangers to find the boy and bring him home.

More than 50 people from Illinois and Missouri showed up this morning to join the search. They fanned out in teams placing flags at homes and sheds that had been checked. search dogs were brought in from Eureka Missouri.

Christopher was last seen 6:30 Saturday night riding his bike along route 13 in Marissa. He is bipolar and has missed at least four doses of his medicine. His father says when that happens he can become angry and frightened. Christopher has run away before but never for this long.

"I have kids I would hope they would do it for me just hope to find him don't want to see anybody lost." said Volunteer Tracy Yon

The strongest lead searchers have now is that search dogs seem to have picked up a scent going East out of town about a mile. Items like a shirt and a hat have been found, but the dogs seem to indicate they are not Christopher's. Although he is 15, officials say he has the mental capacity of about a 7-year-old. The search continues.

Body found believed to be Christopher Harthorne.

Body Of Missing Marissa, IL Teen Found


FOX2now.com
September 20, 2010


Excerpt:


MARISSA, IL (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - The search has ended for a teen missing from his Marissa, IL home for almost 48 hours. The body of Christopher Harthorne,15, was located Monday night. Volunteers had been joined in their search by tracking dogs. Those dogs had been able to pick up the teen's sent east of town. Harthorne was last seen riding his bike on Route 13 in Marissa Saturday evening.


READ MORE: http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-body-found-missing-marissa-teen-092010,0,7777102.story

Moving to Unresolved until results of autopsy are completed and cleared.

Autopsy: Marissa boy drowned
Brian Kelly

Local News
9/21/2010
4:57 pm
The missing Marissa teenager who was found in a St. Clair County pond Monday evening, drowned and there were no signs of trauma.Those are the preliminary findings of an autopsy conducted Tuesday on 15 year old Christopher Harthorne. Final results won’t be out for some time.Harthorne’s body was found Monday evening, in a pond along Fred Huth Road. He was partially clothed and his bicycle was also in the water. Police say it appears to took off some of his own clothing.Hundreds of volunteers had helped search for Christopher, who had a reduced mental capacity and had trouble communicating. He also had misssed several doses of his medication for bipolar disorder.The investigation into his death will continue.The St. Clair County Sheriff’s department is asking anyone who knows where Christopher was between Saturday and last night to call Investigator Scott Toth at 618-277-3505 extension 5776.http://kmox.cbslocal.com/2010/09/21/autopsy-marissa-boy-drowned/