EDITOR’S NOTE: The hunt continues this weekend for 13-year-old Joshua Gershon. Here’s our latest story:
PORT ANGELES — After following up on more than a dozen tips, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said it has no confirmed information on the whereabouts of a 13-year-old Port Angeles boy who has been missing for approximately three weeks.
Detective Sgt. Lyman Moores said Thursday that deputies have followed up on most every lead received since Joshua Gershon was first reported as a runaway by his stepfather, Otto Gershon, on Oct. 3.
Moores said calls of possible sightings of Joshua have come in from multiple areas, including a wooded area in west Port Angeles near Stevens Middle School and the Discovery Bay area in Jefferson County, though no sightings have been confirmed.
“We’re getting a lot of response from the general public as far as people who may have seen him,” Moores said.
“We don’t have a specific direction in which we’re looking.”
Joshua, who has run away before, was last seen near his home in east Port Angeles wearing blue jeans, a dark-blue coat and tennis shoes.
He is about 5 feet tall, weighs 90 pounds and has short brown hair and blue eyes.
Moores could provide no other specific updates on the search, only that Clallam County sheriff’s deputies and detectives are still actively searching for Joshua and following up on leads as best they can.
Joshua’s information also has been entered into a national law enforcement database, Moores said, so agencies across the country will know he has been reported as a runaway.
“Getting the information out is one of the most important things,” Moores said.
Moores asked that anyone with any information that could help find Joshua call sheriff’s dispatchers at 360-417-2459 — or 9-1-1 if they believe they have just spotted the boy.
“It’s important that we get him back safe,” Moores said. “We don’t want any 13-year-olds homeless and out on the streets.”
In a Thursday interview, Otto Gershon said he has received no new information on Joshua’s whereabouts but has kept in contact with the Sheriff’s Office with ideas on where Joshua might be.
Family and friends of Gershon have since made the trip over from Seattle to knock on doors asking about Joshua, specifically along the Waterfront Trail, the portion of the Olympic Discovery Trail that runs just north of Gershon’s house.
Gershon said he has received a great many calls about the search for Joshua and has tried to pass on as much useful information as possible to the Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s a full-time operation for me,” Gershon said.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
