An Escapee

Thursday, I arrived home to find the door dead-bolted. I was mildly surprised, but Sweetie recently mastered the doorknob and I figured that the Historian needed added security. He opened the door and immediately asked if I had heard the news. Uhh, what news? There was an escaped inmate in the neighborhood. The school closest to us was on lock down. Oh. Great. There's an escaped criminal hiding near my house!?  I wanted details. The Historian had none.

I checked the local news. A 16 year old boy being taken into custody when he ran from police. He was already in handcuffs. Then I saw his name. We knew this kid. He used to be our neighbor when we first moved here. He had been to our house countless times. He played in our backyard with 3 of his older brothers. The Historian took those boys to the movies and for walks in our woods. They would show up nearly every day looking for something to eat and to see the Historian. They eventually went to church with us and attended youth nights at the Christian Youth Center.

Without going into major details, it is not surprising what happened. There was no father in the home. The mother usually looked like she was under the influence of something. An older brother was already in criminal trouble when he was 5. They moved further away about 7 years ago and we rarely saw any of that family. I haven't really thought about them in years.

Until the escape. The Historian calmly stated "I don't think he would hurt us." I don't think he would either, but he might hide near us. I don't like the thought of bumping into him under these circumstances. The command center for the search was about .5 miles from our house. As of this moment, he hasn't been caught.

I hesitate to even bring this up, but with a serious threat to homeschooling in California, I will. This kid was public-schooled from the time he was 4. The family was on public assistance. Why did all of the "professionally trained” teachers and case workers allow him to become a statistic? Shouldn't all of that supervision and oversight prevented him from turning to crime? Had this child been homeschooled...well you can imagine the headlines. I will stop now.

Please pray for this boy.  Pray that he will turn himself in.  Also pray for his soul.  I know that he has heard the Gospel. The seed was planted when he was younger. Pray that it will sprout and grow. He still has time to turn his life around.