by Ali K—
Nineteen days.
That is how long we waited to find Drake. Nineteen excruciating days…
Drake was 17 years old. He loved riding his dirt bike. He loved his dog, Grip. He hadn’t even started his first job yet. He hadn’t graduated high school. His life was still in the “about to begin” stage. The day he walked away from home, he left on foot with a handgun and a backpack. Nothing else.
He was a minor. He was vulnerable. He was loved.
But he was labeled a “runaway.”
With that single classification, urgency slowed. No immediate coordinated search began. Critical hours passed. Then days. Then weeks. Our family begged for help. We searched ourselves. We contacted nonprofit organizations. We held onto hope.
Nearly a week went by before meaningful search efforts began by law enforcement.
Nineteen days after he disappeared, Drake was found approximately a mile from home.
A mile….
He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We will live forever with the question: if the response had been immediate, would Drake still be here? We understand that not every teenager who leaves home is in immediate danger. But when a 17-year-old leaves with access to a firearm, that is not simply a runaway situation. That is a high-risk crisis. Classification should never override common-sense risk factors. Terminology should never determine urgency when a child’s life may be at stake.
Drake was not a category. He was a child who loved dirt bikes and his dog. He was a boy who had not yet stepped into adulthood.
When a minor goes missing and their safety cannot be verified, especially when a weapon is involved, there should be an immediate, standardized, high-risk response. Families should not lose irreplaceable time because of a label.
We are asking legislators to strengthen the guidelines that determine how missing minors are classified and how quickly searches begin. We are asking for:
- Mandatory immediate risk assessment for every missing minor.
- Automatic high-risk designation when a minor is believed to have access to a firearm or leaves without resources.
- A prohibition against defaulting to “runaway” without documented safety verification.
- Timely, transparent communication with families about what actions are being taken.
Drake’s story does not have to end with tragedy. It can become the reason another child is found in time.
Nineteen days was too long.
We respectfully ask you to consider how policy language translates into real-life outcomes for families like ours. You have the opportunity to ensure that when the next child disappears, the response reflects the possibility of danger, not an assumption of safety.
Please do not let another family count days the way we did.
Let Drake’s name mean something more than loss. Let it mean change.