Fifteen-year-old Thomas Medlin, of St. James, New York, remains missing after more than two weeks. His family believes he was going to meet someone he met online,
according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on Jan. 26.
Thomas disappeared on Jan. 9 after leaving Stony Brook School at approximately 3:30 p.m. and traveling to Manhattan,
according to the Suffolk County Police Department. Surveillance footage captured him at Grand Central Station around 5:30 p.m. that day, but authorities have not located him since.
Police described Thomas as a white male with brown hair, about 5-foot-4, and 130 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black jacket with red stripes, dark sweatpants with white stripes, a black backpack, and glasses. Authorities have urged anyone with information to contact the Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives at 631-854-8452 or call 911.
His mother, Eva Yan,
told Long Island News 12 that
detectives believe Thomas intended to meet someone he encountered on the Roblox app.
In its Jan. 25
statement posted on its official X account, Roblox said it was deeply concerned about the report of the missing teen and expressed support for his family. The company said it immediately launched an investigation upon learning of the case.
"When we learned that one of our users was missing, we followed our standard process and immediately began an investigation, searched for any previous law enforcement inquiries, and reached out to law enforcement to offer any support in their investigation," the company stated.
Roblox reported that the company found the following: There were no attempts to direct Thomas to communicate off the platform, no sharing of off-platform contact information such as usernames or phone numbers, all chat content was consistent with typical in-game discussions, and there was no indication that he used voice chat.
“We are holding Thomas and his family in our hearts as we hope for his safe return,” said Roblox. “We will continue to provide our full support to law enforcement throughout their investigation.”
Online Risks
Last year, Florida joined Louisiana and Kentucky in taking legal action against Roblox over concerns about child safety on the popular online gaming platform.In
Oct. 2025, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced his office issued criminal subpoenas to Roblox to help prosecutors gather information about suspected criminal activity on the platform, identify potential online predators, and document cases where children may have been harmed.
In its Jan. 25 statement, Roblox said, "We are committed to safety; for anyone interested in learning more about the safeguards Roblox has in place and how to talk to kids about internet safety, please visit
http://roblox.com/safetycenter.”
