Police say runaways revealed plans to classmates

Police say two runaway Perryville children found Monday in a Milton, Fla., residence, may have planned their departure weeks in advance.

Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf said Tuesday an investigation into the disappearance of Brandon Lundmark, 14, and Brianna Wilson, 12, revealed they had told classmates they were planning to run away.

Police say Brandon took his father's pickup truck, cash and an ATM card about midnight March 19 and then left the area after picking up Brianna.

The two eluded police for a week before being found in Florida, where they were taken into custody by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Department. As of Tuesday they were in a Pensacola County, Fla., juvenile detention center facing charges of vehicle theft, said Santa Rosa Sgt. Scott Haines.

According to Schaaf, Brandon left his father, Jerod Lundmark, several notes saying he wanted to be on his own.

Lundmark said Tuesday he has had several telephone conversations with his son since he was found. Brandon told him both he and Brianna obtained jobs in Milton and told people their ages and that they were runaways. Brandon was hired to help a man move furniture, and Brianna was hired to help clean houses, he said.

Lundmark said he did not think the two knew anyone in Florida and did not know why they went there.

'It wasn't good'

Schaaf said it was fortunate for the children they were found quickly. They were staying in an "old, ratty mobile home" with a 19-year-old man and his girlfriend, he said.

"The people they were starting to hang with ... it wasn't good," Schaaf said. "They could have gotten hooked on drugs or something and maybe couldn't have left."

Schaaf said a Santa Rosa County detective received a tip that the children were staying there and took them into custody.

A handgun Brandon's father kept in the pickup truck was found unfired, Schaaf said.

Area residents were shocked when the children were reported missing and relieved they were found.

"I just thought that was surprising," Perryville resident John Edwards said Tuesday. "This sort of thing just doesn't happen in Perryville."

Edwards wondered how they got all the way to Florida at their young age.

Schaaf said the 2002 Z-71 Chevrolet pickup truck is a common-looking vehicle that could easily be overlooked.

"I'm just so glad they were found," said Sharon Pingel of Perryville. A mother and grandmother, Pingel said she could empathize with the worry Brandon and Brianna's parents must have felt.

Pingel added it was unfortunate the police didn't issue an Amber Alert even though the children hadn't been reported abducted.

"They were so young," she said. "If it had been my grandchildren, I would have been really concerned."

carel@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127