Missing teenager returns
ALLEGHENY TWP — The 15-year-old girl who went missing Monday night returned home this morning after being gone for more than 36 hours
Lexis Walker's sudden appearance about 9 a.m. apparently caught family and police by surprise.
“She showed up on our front porch,” said stepfather Mark Durnell. “She looked weak, thirsty and hungry.”
She did not have any apparent physical injuries.
Lt. Eric Hermick, who heads the crime unit at Troop D in Butler, said police were notified of Lexis' return but had no other immediate information,
“She's back and no medical attention was requested,” he said.
Two investigators were immediately sent to the girl's home to speak to her.
“We want to vet any information from her,” Hermick said. “We want to know where she's been, who she might have been with, what she did, and if anyone harbored her.”
Hermick said he did not believe the teen had met with any foul play.
“But once we interview her, we'll know more. Did she leave for a good reason or was this just a case of a juvenile being a juvenile?”
After the interview, he said, police would determine if the girl may need services from the Butler County Children and Youth Services or mental health agencies.
It was not the girl's typical behavior to run away from home like she did from her 115 Locust Lane home Monday night, leading to a more than 45-person search party on Tuesday.
Walker took a bookbag with her and a bottle of antidepressants.
She left her family a note when she left her home, but her mother, April Walker, never expected her to do something like this, she said.
Lexis was last seen by her twin brother, Levi Walker, between 7 and 8:30 p.m. Monday. She had been playing horseshoes by herself near the woods behind the family's home, but her brother said that was not unusual for her to go into the woods alone.
“She always went back there, almost every day,” Levi said.
After losing a horseshoe, Lexis borrowed a magnet stick from her stepfather to try finding the horseshoe, but she ended up losing that magnet stick as well.According to her mom, the note said Lexis did not want to be around when Durnell found out, afraid that he would be upset or yell at her.When the family could not find her, they contacted state police in Butler, around 9 p.m.The note did not contain much, April Walker said.“(The note) just said she knows it's going to break our hearts,” she said. “She said, 'You'll find me soon.'”But running away is not something her family expected from her.“I ... never in a million years did I think she would do this,” April Walker said.Multiple hours of searching Tuesday yielded nothing in the immediate two- to four-mile radius area around the home, according to Cpl. Robert Donaldson, the crime supervisor with state police.He called off the search about 2 p.m., saying the police had exhausted all leads and resources.During the search, state police were joined by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, a K-9 unit, helicopters, search and rescue dogs with the Pennsylvania Wilderness Search and Rescue and volunteer fire departments from Eau Claire, North Washington, Marion Township, Chicora, Unionville, Emlenton, Parker and Bruin.The fire departments and neighbors brought all-terrain vehicles to assist with the search.Eagle staff writer Jim Smith contributed to this report.
