Police chief: Anyone found helping missing teen will be charged | News, sports, jobs

ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP – Last Thursday, 15-year-old Ericka Heaton of East Liverpool was reported missing by her parents.

According to Chief Brian McKenzie, St. Clair Township Police received a call of a missing juvenile on May 9 around 6 p.m. She was entered into the LEADS automated data system that night as a missing juvenile. Heaton is said to have left a babysitter’s house on May 9th. It is unknown how long she was gone before she was reported missing.

Now McKenzie believes she is getting help and warns that anyone who harbors, aids, abets or aids in circumventing her recovery will be charged.

According to McKenzie, Heaton’s parents have allegedly received multiple reports that their daughter was with a group of teenagers in East Liverpool and may have been seen in a black vehicle.

“We followed all of our leads out here,” McKenzie said. “(School Resource) Officer (James) Savina has worked tirelessly to track down leads through social media platforms and has also referred the missing youth to the Attorney General’s Endangered Missing Youth Unit. The idea that we do nothing is absolutely wrong. We do a lot.”

The chief also noted that Dispatcher Rylan Childs of the East Liverpool Police Department also worked extensively on the case.

The Marshal’s Office, which has a Missing and Endangered Children Unit, contacted the St. Clair Police Department and is involved in the search.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations is also involved.

McKenzie said an Amber Alert was not issued because Heaton was not kidnapped, it was a voluntary escape and she is considered at risk by her own actions.

Heaton is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. She is Caucasian with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone who saw her or has information is asked to immediately contact the East Liverpool Police Department dispatch center at 330-385-1234, the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office at 330-424-7255 or 9-1-1 set.