MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Two North Carolina teens who have been missing since Friday may be headed to Myrtle Beach and police are asking for help finding the duo.
wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |
Missing teens from NC
The Catawba County Sheriff's Office confirms it is looking for two high school students, and both families are extremely worried about their well being.
Jake Ziegler, 18, and Ray Pierce, 17, attend Bandys High School. Ziegler's sister, Jackie, says the two friends were headed to Myrtle Beach and the last phone call from the pair came in around 3 a.m. Saturday from the Rock Hill area. Jackie says she hopes police will take her case seriously, because it is unlike her younger brother, Jake to not contact her.
"I understand the statistics and I understand that but this is not my brother. And there's no chance in hell he would go this far without contacting me," Jackie Ziegler said, "there is no activity on their cell phones, on their debit cards. We don't believe they have any cash with them. They have one Shell card for gas and they can use it for food. However, I can't trace it until Monday morning."
Myrtle Beach Police Captain David Knipes said the city is a magnet for runaway teens and people looking for a hide-out. But, he added, missing juveniles does not go unnoticed. Knipes said a special group of officers make up a juvenile department, specializing in locating missing persons.
"They'll take the flyers and literally canvas door to door and ocean boulevard, hand out the flyers to the different hotels and see if somebody might have seen these people to give them that extra little help," Knipes said, "they're just an anonymous face. With Myrtle Beach having such a high transient population with people coming in for a weekend or a week at a time there's different faces all the time so they can just blend in a lot easier."
Dozens of family and friends drove down I-77 to Columbia Monday morning to see if they could locate the car the teens were driving. Ziegler says they are looking for a 2006 Green Pontiac G-6 with NC plates BBD-8844. Ziegler's dad drove to Myrtle Beach and rented a helicopter to survey the area and surrounding areas. As of Monday evening, their search left them empty-handed.
On Monday, both boys' families publicly urged them to go home.
"You are not in trouble. Our hearts are broken. I will not stop at anything until he is home. And I mean it. If he doesn't want us to find him, I'm gonna find him. We're waiting here with open arms and we're gonna do whatever it takes because that's what family does and that's what family's for," Jackie Ziegler said.
"You have two sisters. You have a family that loves you, that's concerned, that wants you home safe. Please come home if you're listening to this," Pierce's mother Wendy Pierce said.
If you see the teens, or the vehicle they are reportedly driving, please call Myrtle Beach Police at 843-918-1300.
Copyright 2012 WMBF News. All rights reserved.
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