Sycamore runaways had good reason for leaving

1ROP-SCAAn Oracle resident, on his way to hunt deer at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Saturday August 23, was flagged down by two juveniles. The hunter, who asked that his name remain private, could tell from their clothing, gym shorts and t-shirts, that they were residents of the Academy.

The boys, appearing to be between the ages of 13 and 15, were small enough that they were looking up to him through the window as they approached his jeep.

They asked the hunter for a ride and told him that the Academy had ‘been bad, but it got terrible once they brought the new kids in.’ The Hunter described the two boys as extremely polite. “They weren’t the kind of kids you would expect to run away, unless something was really wrong,” said the man. He couldn’t say that they were afraid for certain, but it appeared by their demeanor that they had a good reason for leaving.

He told them that it would be against the law to help them flee from the facility and warned them that they were in mountain lion and bear country. Their eyes widened, but what seemed to terrify the boys, was the response to their question as how far away the Circle K, a local convenience store, was from their current location. To which he responded, “About 15 miles.”

The hunter offered the weary boys some Gatorade and warned them that he would have to contact the authorities as soon as he had enough bars on his cellphone to make the call.

The call was made sometime later, and the boys were returned to the Academy by a Pinal County deputy by 5:00 a.m.

“They were genuinely just good kids, they said ‘sir,’ and ‘yes sir.’ They just couldn’t take it anymore. You would think that they would have been model kids. They seemed like there was just something that wasn’t right.”

According to the official report from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department, the runaways were returned without incident. There is no evidence that the deputy interviewed the runaways to ascertain whether they were in danger nor does it appear that the case was referred to any child welfare agency. The Department has not answered any questions related to the matter.