Tracking runaways

Saturday, May 27, 2006

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Horace Niero, along with his colleague, Deena Mobley, has a caseload of more than 60 runaways in St. Petersburg.

Thousands of children run away from home every year, and the problem continually is getting worse.

A week ago, a 9-year-old boy from St. Petersburg ran away from his foster home. Police spent three days tracking him down, finally catching up with him in an abandoned apartment in Oldsmar. It was the third time the boy had run away.

Cases like his are nothing new to the St. Petersburg Police Department. The department has two investigators, Horace Niero and Deena Mobley, dedicated to finding runaways and missing children.

Runaway Hotlines
	Click here for a list of web sites dedicated to finding missing or runaway children.

The two investigators come to work every day with 60 to 70 open runaway cases waiting for them. Niero believes the fear of predators walking the streets has parents calling police more often.

"We have young girls out there that are being taken advantage of on a daily basis by older men, and in some cases older women," Niero said.

Niero says one of the biggest reasons runaways are a growing problem is children today have less respect for their parents. He also believes parents fear being arrested if they punish their child too strongly.

"Kids seem to seize that as an opportunity to intimidate the parents and walk in and out of the house when they feel like it," he said.

Niero says he needs the parents' help in getting a handle on the problem. The parents' insight is invaluable in getting through to the kids, in finding out what makes them tick and what caused them to run away.

The first 48 hours are the most important in locating a missing or runaway child. If a child has run away, parents should: