Missing teen sighted at truck stop

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Police are relatively certain that a Wednesday morning sighting of a Perryville teen on the run was of 14-year-old Brandon Lundmark of Perryville.

A Perry County Sheriff's Department detective went to the Flying J truck stop in New Madrid, Mo., Wednesday afternoon to investigate the report, said Sheriff Gary Schaff.

Schaff said late Wednesday afternoon that a surveillance video at the truck stop was not clear, making identification difficult.

"We're pretty sure it's him," he said. "But it was hard to see."

Lundmark reportedly took his father's pickup truck, cash and an ATM card about midnight Monday and then left the area after picking up his 12-year-old girlfriend, Brianna Williams, also of Perryville.

Lundmark's father reported his son missing to authorities at 12:28 a.m. Tuesday.

The video depicted a young man matching Lundmark's description wearing a dark sweat shirt with white lettering across the front, Schaff said.

Until Wednesday's report at the truck stop, the couple had last been tracked to Cape Girardeau, where they reportedly used the ATM card to withdraw cash around 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Lundmark's father, Jerod, said Tuesday he was surprised his son left home after a discussion about why he was being grounded for taking the truck last week without permission and going to Williams' house. The boy had been living alone with his father in their Perryville home for several years.

Schaff said that Lundmark left a note for his father, a paraplegic, before leaving Monday night stating he wanted to go out into the world and do things his way.

Before taking off, the boy reportedly placed telephones on top of the refrigerator and his father's cell phone in the mailbox, apparently to give him more time to put miles between himself and his home before police were called, Schaff said.

Police are asking anyone who sees a 2002 Z-71 Chevrolet pickup truck with a Missouri license 702-RG6 to call their local law enforcement agency.

carel@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127