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Pierce Crowley, 15, of Rye, N.Y. was found just after midnight Wednesday night.
A teenager who vanished last Friday from Westchester County, N.Y., has been found safe in Manhattan, officials said Thursday.
Police said officers spotted Pierce Crowley, 15, just after midnight Wednesday night with a group of other teenagers in Washington Heights, in the northern part of New York City. They questioned Crowley, and once they determined it was the teen, officers returned him to his family's house in Rye.
"He was unharmed, appeared to be in good health and good spirits," White Plains Police Lt. Eric Fischer told msnbc.com.
Police, family members, and hundreds of volunteers had been searching for Crowley, plastering fliers around Manhattan, Westchester and the Bronx. On the day he vanished, he had been at White Plains' New York-Presbyterian Hospital in what his parents described in an email to friends as "a fragile state."
He hadn't been feeling well when he disappeared, his parents had said, but didn't elaborate. The medical center where he was last seen is one of the top psychiatric hospitals in the nation.
According to police, a friend of Crowley's had come forward to say the two left the hospital and went to The Cheesecake Factory restaurant together, Newsday reported.
They then took a cab to the White Plains Metro-North train station, the report said. Crowley's friend took a train to New York City while Crowley stayed behind in the cab.
Crowley had $40 in his pocket, no credit card and no cell phone, police told Newsday.
Previous report: Teen missing; parents say he was in a 'fragile state'
"We were treating it as a missing persons case. At no time did we ever have any information that foul play was suspected," Fischer told msnbc.com.
On Thursday morning, a Facebook page called "Find Pierce Crowley," which had garnered nearly 7,000 fans, was updated with a single sentence: "Pierce is safe back home, thank you for all your help!"
Crowley's parents did not return a phone call from msnbc.com, but his mother, Gretchen, told Newsday, "We're just so incredibly relieved, I can't even put it into words. He's here and he's safe and obviously everybody is thrilled here."
He was happy to back with his family, a White Plains public safety commissioner said.
"He looks like he just walked out and decided to have an adventure," David Chong told Newsday. "It's like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack."
Tips about Crowley's location, including one Wednesday night about him being in the Washington Heights area, had poured in throughout the investigation, the White Plains police said.
Crowley is a student at Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle, where he plays hockey and lacrosse and runs cross-country, Newsday said.
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From what I read, he left the hospital with a friend and was "missing" for about a week. Was the friend also reported missing? Did this boy not think for one second that his parents might be worried about him? Or, was it common for a 15-year old to be gone for a week or more at a time before anyone noticed? There are a lot of unusual circumstances laid out in this article. I'm glad he's home safe, but I just get the feeling that this is a spoiled young man who is used to getting his way and giving little in return.
Whatever caused this young person to simply walk away, one can only hope that those causes will now be removed, or at least moderated, by the ones who are in a position to take action.
I did the same when I was much younger because of tremendous familial pressures... I never went 'home' again.
He needs a good old-fashioned spanking. Since he more than likely has never had one, that's probably what the problem is. ;-)
Slap dat azz, perv! You are a perv if spankings are the first thing you can think about him getting after you read this article!
So should this boy's parents punish the daylights out of him for pulling this stunt, once things get settled and they collect themselves? How DARE this kid pull a stunt like this? Apparently he didn't run away to escape abuse. He's clean-cut and plays sports, apparently has not been in any trouble, so he just decided to take off and have some fun. He needs a good lesson taught for putting his parents through the grinder.
what a waste of time .. while this doofus is "having an adventure", his parents cry wolf and resources that could've been used for actual missing people, emergencies were instead diverted here..
Wait...he just wanted to go on an adventure? Are you freaking kidding me??!! He decided he wanted to go and hang out with teenagers...in Washington Heights of all places? Again....Are you freaking kidding me??!! This kid obviously knew damn well what he was doing, yet his parents are just so busy being over the freaking moon about his 'safe' return that they are not bothering to get to the core of what the hell he was thinking! I wouldn't be so nonchalant about this. If he has issues to a point where he needs to seek psychiatric help then maybe keeping him in the psych ward would be a better idea than keeping him at home where the chances of him randomly disappearing and going on little adventures again are lessened! Too many damn stupid parents out there these days who think independence and freedom are a great thing for a teenager with obvious mental difficulties to have.
What they didn't mention in this report was HOW he was spotted by police. It seems he was drinking a 64oz. soda which will soon be illegal in the Rotten Apple. Will somone with more money please beat this Bloomberg character next election before he ruins, oops, too late, never mind..OR the kid who was suspended from an Elmira, NY high school for having a deadly weapon. He was busted shooting spitballs through a pen!! No more Big Brother...puhleeeze!
Reply somewhere else.....waaaaay off topic.
He was hanging out in the hood while I'm worried to death!! Man, I would've been locked up if I were his mom!!
He was hanging out in the hood while I'm worried to death!! Man, I would've been locked up if I were his mom!!
The kid took off for A WEEK with no consideration for his worried parents. He was found "hanging out" after midnight with friends having a good time. All while a very public search is going on in the area. I'd beat his ass red on the way to Military school. He sounds like a spoiled brat.
If you didn't read my first comment, chill the f*ck out now. Sometimes you just gotta get away, and with all those activities, it looks like he needs a break.
hmm..he sure got over that "fragile state" pretty fast. we don't have all the facts, but with what they gave us in the article it leads one to believe he's a problem child whose parents slapped him in the psych ward to deal with his behavior. he, being manipulative, just took advantage of the freedom he had and went and "had an adventure"......i know, we don't have the facrts, but come on......it looks bad on the kid being a problem child.
As the mother of a 15 year old son who does have aspergers syndrome it is VERY upsetting to me to read comments from people who know so little about the disorder that they can't even spell it correctly. People who have aspergers are highly intelligent that is true but please don't blame a specific didorder and state the "symptoms" if you are not well versed in it. Also don't make assumptions about what is wrong with this boy when you really don't know. The important thing is that he is safe and home-and hopefully his parents will get him tha medical treatment (whatever it may be for whaterver he is suffering from) to help him learn the coping skills to be an independent adult. Anytiem a child is suffering from an illness(menatl or physical) it is the job of teh parents to help the child the best that they can. As parents we must protect or children and prepare them for their future so that they can ve confident, successful. independent adults. Aspergers is not all bad people with aspergers have MANY gifts and talents and are truly wonderful.