Police and volunteers in West Virginia are searching for a teen that has been missing since last week.
15-year-old Riley Crossman was last seen in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Her parents fear she was abducted.
They spoke with Dateline on Monday, and outlined the unusual circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
Her boyfriend told family he was on a video call with Crossman until about 10:30 the night before her disappearance, and another friend said she was texting Crossman until about midnight. Her family told Dateline the teen’s phone was inactive until around 5:40 a.m. when she tried to video call her boyfriend.
He was asleep at the time and missed the call, family said.
Her mom said she woke up the next day after the time Crossman normally leaves for school – around 7:15 a.m. - and it wasn’t until her daughter didn’t come home from school that afternoon that she started to worry.
“I went upstairs and walked in her room and she wasn’t there. I was mad and scared because, at that point, no one had heard from her,” Chantel told Dateline. “Then I got the call from the school saying she had been marked absent.”
Family told Dateline they do not believe Crossman’s boyfriend was involved in her disappearance and that she never would have run away.
“She wouldn’t just run off. She has never hurt anyone in her life,” her father told the media outlet. “She’s very gentle.”
Several law enforcement agencies are now working together to search for her, including the FBI, West Virginia State Police and Morgan County Sheriff’s Department.
Tuesday afternoon, law enforcement asked West Virginia residents to search their properties for the missing teen.
Morgan County Sheriff’s Department said Monday afternoon law enforcement has logged hundreds of man hours in the search for Crossman. They are planning a large, coordinated search for Wednesday.
Volunteers should meet at the Pines Opportunity Center (formerly War Memorial Hospital) at 9 a.m. in Morgan County, West Virginia.
Organizers asked volunteers to please bring a reflective vest, if they have it.
Crossman was last seen wearing a black hoodie and black leggings. She may wear glasses, and has a scar on the center of her forehead. She is 5’06”, police said, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
