Parents frustrated over lack of leads

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Three days after they first went missing, little is known about the whereabouts of two Perryville children and their parents are frustrated over lack of leads from police.

Police say Brandon Lundmark, 14, took his father's pickup truck, cash and an ATM card about midnight Monday and then left the area after picking up Brianna Williams, 12.

Brian Williams, Brianna's father, and Jerod Lundmark, Brandon's father, both said they call the Perry County Sheriff's Department daily but expressed frustration over getting information.

Williams has asked why the sheriff hasn't issued an Amber Alert and said officials told him the situation didn't meet the criteria. "But no one can tell me what those criteria are," he said.

In the United States and Canada, Amber Alerts are public notifications through various media outlets advising that a confirmed abduction of a child has occurred.

Williams said he also asked deputies about television reports Wednesday that a handgun was in Lundmark's. He said he was told authorities already knew about the gun and feels like he's on a need-to-know basis for information about his daughter.

Williams criticized the department's handling of a New Madrid, Mo., truck stop surveillance video that police say may have caught the image of Brandon Lundmark.

He said neither parent was invited to view it for identification purposes.

Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf said the video was of poor quality but felt confident there was a strong possibility the person on the tape was Brandon Lundmark.

"But they haven't even asked his father to look at the videotape," Williams said. "A father can tell a lot about his son from his posture. He knows if he limps or if he stoops when he walks. A father could identify him."

While Jerod Lundmark also expressed frustration over his communications with the sheriff's department, he said he believes it is doing all it can to find the two children.

Williams said he didn't believe his daughter planned to run off with Brandon Lundmark. He believes she may have left through her bedroom window that night to visit the boy for a couple of hours or possibly the night.

"If you look in my daughter's room, you'll see she's got money laying out on her dresser, she's got her toothbrush sitting there," he said. "She didn't stop to get anything."

Brianna's 7-year-old sister has an inoperable brain tumor, and the two girls are also close, Williams said. "She's always there for her. I can't see her taking off," he said.

He worries that Brandon may be afraid to come back because he may face charges.

Jerod Lundmark thinks the children could be headed for Arizona or California, where the two have relatives.

"Eventually they'll run out of money and get caught," he said.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245