[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A teenage boy from Long Island has been missing for two weeks, and the details emerging are every parent’s worst nightmare.
Fifteen-year-old Thomas Medlin (pictured above, via a police handout) vanished after heading into Manhattan on what appeared to be a normal school day, and his family is still desperately searching for answers.
According to Suffolk County police, Thomas left Stony Brook School in the tiny Long Island town of St. James back on Friday, January 9, around 3:30 p.m. Instead of heading home, investigators say he ran to the Stony Brook Long Island Rail Road station and boarded a train into Manhattan. About two hours later, at roughly 5:30 p.m., he was last seen at Grand Central Station. And that’s where the trail first began to grow cold.
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A surveillance photo released by police shows Thomas on what looks like a New York City subway platform, a backpack on his shoulders and a large item in his hands. He’s described as 5-foot-4, about 130 pounds, wearing a black jacket with red stripes, dark sweatpants with white stripes, glasses, and carrying a black backpack. It’s a painfully ordinary description, the kind that could apply to so many kids traveling through the city every single day.
Police later traced Thomas’ movements to the area around Cherry and Rutgers Streets in Lower Manhattan, and then to Sands and Jay Street in Brooklyn, according to his family per several local media outlets. Since that Friday afternoon, no one has heard from him. No calls. No texts. No signs that explain why he disappeared or where he might have gone next.
Two weeks after he vanished, Thomas’ mother, Eva Yan, shared a chilling theory. She believes her son may have gone into the city to meet someone he met online through the gaming platform Roblox.
Whoa.
The idea that a virtual connection could lead a real-life teenager into danger is something many families fear, and this case is bringing that concern into sharp focus. In a statement to People, a spokesperson for Roblox said:
“We are deeply troubled by this incident and are working with law enforcement to support their investigation. Roblox is built with safety at its core, including robust policies to help protect users that go beyond many other platforms. We have filters designed to block the sharing of personal information and don’t allow user-to-user image or video sharing. While no system is perfect, our commitment to safety never ends, and we continue to evolve and strengthen our protections every day. Given this involves an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”
For Thomas’ parents, none of this makes sense. Yan told News 12 that her son’s disappearance is completely out of character:
“He has never left us.”
And his father, James Medlin, echoed that confusion and heartbreak:
“I just can’t believe why he left in the first place.”
Every day since Thomas went missing, his loved ones have been searching. Organized search parties have scoured parts of Long Island and Manhattan. They’ve checked homeless shelters. And they’re bracing themselves as extreme winter weather in the region this weekend threatens to make an already terrifying situation even more dangerous.
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Through it all, his mother keeps coming back to who Thomas is at his core:
“Everyone loves him. We just want him to be safe.”
Police are urging anyone with information about Thomas Medlin’s whereabouts to contact detectives at 631-854-8452 or call 911. Somewhere out there, someone knows something.
So sad…
[Image via Suffolk County Police Department]
