PORT TOWNSEND — A teenage girl sought by her family and police was still missing Sunday night after a weekend sighting, and investigators think she might be staying away from home by choice.
Port Townsend resident Phoebe McHenry, 15, was seen at a 76 gas station in Marysville late Saturday, and a review of surveillance video by her mother, Evelyn McHenry, confirmed the girl in the video was the missing teen, Port Townsend Police said in a Sunday morning news release.
She was seen at 7:30 p.m. leaving the gas station at 47th Avenue NE near Third Street in Marysville with two young men, possibly also in their teens, and McHenry did not seem to be in distress, Officer Patrick Fudally said.
It was not known if McHenry was with the two men willingly, and nothing has been ruled out as they continue looking for her, he said.
Fudally said investigators believe Phoebe is possibly in a depressed state and likely choosing to remain away from home.
Evelyn McHenry said Sunday that her daughter had recently transferred to a new school and was doing very well there.
“All of us are just in shock. We just want her home,” she said.
She said the family is uncertain of whether Phoebe McHenry left on her own or was taken.
“If someone did take her, please let her go. If she did leave on her own, we want her to know that her sister and I and her family love her. We are not mad at her. We just want her home,” she said.
Fudally said the Marysville Police Department is assisting in the search, but McHenry has not been seen since the gas station sighting.
McHenry is 6 feet tall and weighs about 300 pounds, has black and red hair, and was wearing a Seattle Seahawks hooded sweatshirt and black spandex pants when last seen.
If anyone sees McHenry or has information about her location, they are asked to phone 360-344-9779.
She has been missing from her home since 7:30 a.m. Friday.
Evelyn McHenry told police the teen left for The Ocean School on Grant Street in Port Townsend and did not return home.
Police checked with the school and found Phoebe did not attend school Friday.
She was seen in the area of the school around 12:30 p.m. that day.
At 3:25 p.m. Friday police located McHenry’s cell phone signal near Interstate 5 in the Marysville area.
At about the same time, Phoebe’s friend received a message on Facebook stating “help,” and then her phone was turned off, Fudally said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
OUR EARLIER REPORT
By James Casey
Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — The mother of a 15-year-old teen who disappeared Friday said her daughter, Phoebe Marie McHenry, was happy as she walked her younger sister to school that morning.
“She said, ‘I love you,’” when she left, said a distraught Evelyn Michelle McHenry, who said she was waiting by the telephone for news of her daughter.
“She was happy for her sister because her sister had a sleepover yesterday. She was really happy for her,” the Port Townsend woman said.
“She just disappeared.”
Police describe her as 6 feet tall and weighing 300 pounds, with hair that is black and red.
She possibly is wearing black spandex pants and a Seahawks hoodie.
According to Port Townsend Officer Patrick Fudally, Evelyn McHenry told police Phoebe had not returned home from the OCEAN (Opportunity, Community, Experience, Academics and Navigation) Program on Grant Street in Port Townsend.
Officers discovered she had not attended school but had been seen in the area around 12:30 p.m.
Her cell phone was located through a cell tower near Marysville at 3:25 p.m. Friday, the same time a friend received a Facebook message from Phoebe saying “help.”
Marysville police are searching for her, while Port Townsend officers are interviewing Phoebe’s friends and acquaintances, hoping for clues.
An adult relative has distributed fliers in Marysville, the missing girl’s mother said.
“We hope that maybe somebody will see her,” Evelyn McHenry said.
She said her daughter had no connection to Marysville, located just north of Everett along Interstate 5 in Snohomish County.
“We don’t have any family there,” she said.
Evelyn McHenry said her daughter was not likely to have left without notifying her.
“She always would text me if she wanted to go somewhere,” she said.
“She always would ask permission first, so this kind of disturbs me.”
Phoebe’s Facebook page shows a smiling girl with a pierced lower lip and hair that changes hue from black to blue to red.
Her messages, however, tell a different story.
“God people are so stupid,” she posted Sept. 10, saying creating a group called End Bullying “just [to] complain” wouldn’t help solve the problem.
On Sept. 7, she posted, “I’ve learned not to trust people, not to feel things for people, and not to talk to people.
“All anyone does [is] hurt you and it’s better to stay hidden away in ur room where no one can hurt you. . . .
“You live ur life as if your a zombie, going through life so slow and meaningless. Life [will] go by and all u will remember is sitting there, feeling nothing, doing nothing. Just sitting. Thinking how worthless you are and how much ur tired of trying.”
That same day, she posted, “Why is it the people who wanna live, die, but the people who wanna die have to live.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Port Townsend Police Department at 360-344-9779.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
