A 15-year-old girl has gone missing in South Carolina, triggering a search and a request for help from the public.
Tristan Briana Lindler was at her house in Newberry County around 9 p.m. on May 15 when she left in her grandfather’s truck, a white 2002 Chevrolet Silverado.
Lindler left by herself, according to the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office. She left voluntarily in an unknown direction.
She is described as a white female, standing 5’2” and weighing 100 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing duck boots, blue jeans with holes in the knees, and a red jacket.
“Law enforcement has been working with the family checking with friends and family members and is now asking the public’s assistance in locating Lindler. She does have family in the West Columbia area, however there has been no contact as of this release,” the office stated.
The National Center for Missing and Endangered Children shared the sheriff’s statement with its followers on Facebook, asking anyone with information to come forward.
No update has been given since Thursday morning and no other information was available.
Anyone with any information was asked to contact the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office at (803) 321-2222.
Missing Children
There were 424,066 missing children reported in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center in 2018, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement they must be entered into the database. In 2017, there were 464,324 entries.
“This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total,” the center noted.
The center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 25,000 missing children. In those cases, 92 percent were endangered runaways, 4 percent were family abductions, 3 percent were critically missing young adults between the ages of 17 and 21, 1 percent were lost, injured, or otherwise missing children, and less than 1 percent were nonfamily abductions.
Nancy McBride, the executive director of Florida Outreach at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said that most of the runaways involve technology.
“(Technology) has great benefits and some potential risks,” McBride told USA Today in 2017. “It’s important to stay plugged into their lives.”
Tech is utilized by online predators, McBride said, who exploit gaps when the child’s relationship with their parents isn’t strong. But discussing dangers can help combat potential problems.
“Talk it out with them,” she said. “Get your kids to show them where they like to go (online). Talk to them about how the dangers in the virtual world can translate into the real world.”
David Finkelhor, the director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, added that parents should focus on strengthening relationships with their kids.
“When relationships deteriorate with kids . . . dangers really come into play,” he said.
