UPDATE - Tyler Pillsbury has been found safe in Williston, Vermont, about eight miles from where he was last seen yesterday afternoon. Tyler was spotted in front of a restaurant at about 9:30 this morning, and is being interviewed by State police now. His parents are on their way to meet him. It is unclear at this time whether Tyler left of his own free will or where he spent the night, but he appears to be safe and relatively unharmed.
Jericho, VT - Tyler Pillsbury was last seen out riding his bike yesterday after school. It was about 4:30 p.m. and the thirteen-year-old was riding his black mountain bike along Browns Trace Road and Governor Peck Road in Jericho. He hasn’t been seen since, and Vermont State Police say the boy’s disappearance is suspicious.
Tyler was wearing an orange sweatshirt with a hood, blue jeans, white sneakers, and either a dark knit hat or a blue bike helmet. He is about 5′5″ and weighs 90 pounds. He has short brown hair and hazel eyes.
Tyler has also been identified in at least one news report as Tyler Washburn. Could be a typo, but it could also be that this is a kid who uses more than one last name. Lots of kids in divorced or blended families use different last names depending on who they’re visiting or living with - that could easily be the case here.
It’s easy to look at a 13 year old kid and say, well, he just got mad about something and ran away. Or he hit the bong or got drunk with friends or made out with a girl and was afraid to go home. And honestly, I probably wouldn’t normally write up this kind of case - too often, the kid is home in an hour. But this case is eerily similar to the abduction of Shawn Hornbeck. Shawn was abducted from his home in Richwoods, Missouri in 2002 and recovered in 2007. He was eleven, out riding his bike near his rural home. He vanished without a trace on an early October afternoon. Sound familiar?
Shawn’s abductor, Michael Devlin, will never see freedom again - he’s serving multiple life sentences. And maybe I’m being alarmist. Maybe Tyler Pillsbury/Washburn just skipped out for awhile. I hope I’m wrong. I hope he makes it home today so I can post that the little snothead wasted a half hour of my time writing him up. I hope he went out and did something kid-stupid and didn’t want to go home. I hope he shows up in his first-hour class like nothing ever happened. I hope.
Anyone with information about Tyler or his whereabouts is asked to contact Vermont State Police at 878-7111.
17 responses so far ↓
1
Miss. Hill
Oct 7, 2008 at 8:14 am -I have a 12 year old boy so this freaks me out. I feel bad for his parents. I hope he comes home asap unscathed!
2
speechless
Oct 7, 2008 at 8:17 am -I hope he will show up also, Imp. I hope his parents will be able to tell him: “if you ever scare me like this again i will kill you with my very own hands!” all while hugging tight the little snot.
These cases concerning children are so disturbing.
God bless him, and his family who must be going through hell right now.
3
SoUncool
Oct 7, 2008 at 8:47 am -I hope he’s found safe too. If there’s no teen angst that sends up red flags with his friends and family, it doesn’t look good. My kiddo will be 13 in a few months and I just can’t imagine her not coming home. This is a parent’s worst nightmare. I’ll be sending positive thoughts their way.
4
Peeperann
Oct 7, 2008 at 8:58 am -Aw, this has to be so scary for his parents. I too hope he’s just being a teenager and being stupid as most of them can be at times.
But it sound oh too familiar. I’ll keep praying for him, that he comes home safe and will keep checking back for updates….
5
cnkc
Oct 7, 2008 at 9:01 am -Shawn Hornbeck is exactly who I thought of too. I hope Tyler gets home safe today.
6
tray-bay-bay
Oct 7, 2008 at 9:10 am -I also really hope to read that he was just being a rotten little teenager and is home safely.
Praying he’s getting an earful from his parents right now.
7
RockRGrl
Oct 7, 2008 at 10:04 am -I have a 13 year old named Tyler. Really makes me think about how easily things happen. I also hope, like the rest of you, that Tyler comes home safely.
8
RaVen Blackehart
Oct 7, 2008 at 10:18 am -JERICHO — A 13-year-old boy from Jericho who was missing since Monday afternoon has been found, Vermont State Police told a Free Press reporter shortly before 10 a.m.
Troopers said Tyler Pillsbury was “in the safe hands” of a state police detective.
Pillsbury was found about 18 hours after he had last been seen riding his mountain bike in the area of Browns Trace Road and Governor Peck Road.
Troopers had set up a command center at the community center in Jericho early this morning and were planning to search the woods off Governor Peck Road.
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Tyler was wearing an orange sweatshirt with a hood, blue jeans, white sneakers, and either a dark knit hat or a blue bike helmet. He is between 5-feet-4- and 5-feet-6-inches tall and weighs 90 pounds. He has short brown hair and hazel eyes.
Pillsbury is home-schooled, according to officials at Browns River Middle School.
9
CassieMomma
Oct 7, 2008 at 11:28 am -So glad he was found safe. Finally a good ending
10
speechless
Oct 7, 2008 at 12:02 pm -There is a God after all….hope he wasn’t abused and traumatized in any way….hope he was just being a bonehead!
In any case…welcome back Tyler, we are all glad you are home safe.
11
cnkc
Oct 7, 2008 at 12:15 pm -Woo hooo!
Hope his absence was voluntary and that he never scares his family like this again!!!! Glad you’re safe, Tyler.
12
sugarglider
Oct 7, 2008 at 12:29 pm -Spotted in front of a restaurant? Hmm. With his bike, or not with his bike? An 8 mile bike ride isn’t THAT long, but it’s pretty long.
13
RockRGrl
Oct 7, 2008 at 12:53 pm -Found safe is very good news
14
sugarglider
Oct 7, 2008 at 12:58 pm -By the way, not to be cynical, but: if this kid did run away overnight, it’s always possible something foul was afoot in the HOME. I expect they’ll look into that. And probably it won’t be the case, but from tooling around on DD one knows it’s always a possibility. 13 is pretty young to run away from home, if that’s what he did, for no reason.
15
Peeperann
Oct 8, 2008 at 10:05 am -Finally, good news!
Very rare that we get that here. I too hope he was just hanging out with friends and never scares his family like that again.
16
testpattern
Oct 8, 2008 at 3:03 pm -According to Vermont WCAX this morning, the adventurous young man had planned to spend the night away from home and neglected to make mention of his plan to anyone. His father is now “having a talk with him”. I imagine so!
17
Kdogg
Oct 8, 2008 at 6:53 pm -Thank god he was found safe! I imagine his parents will want to have that “talk” with him.(mine had too once.) Nice to know these do occsionaly have happy endings.
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