COALITION AGAINST INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD ABUSE
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Mother on a mission

Sunday, April 2, 2006
Sam Neathery called home after escaping from the Polk Juvenile Correctional Facility, but was not found.
 
Virginia Neathery is a mother on a mission, to find her 16-year-old son, Sam.

"I worry about his safety, how is he going to eat? Who is he going to ride with if he takes a ride from someone?" Neathery said.

Polk County Sheriff's officials said Sam Neathery escaped from the Polk Juvenile Correctional Facility early Sunday morning where he'd been serving time since January on grand theft auto charges. They say he broke out the window of his second-story dormitory, then somehow managed to clear barbed-wire fences, avoiding on-duty security on his way out.

"It's been said that he has cuts on his hands and a gash in his legs," Neathery said of her son. "I worry about him getting medical attention."

At 3 a.m. Sunday, Neathery called his family from a gas station about one mile from the facility. His father immediately called authorities.

"Up until he called them, they didn't know he was gone," Neathery said.

The sheriff's office launched a search by land and air. But no one saw or heard from Neathery again until 9 a.m. Sunday.

 
Virginia Neathery can't understand how her son escaped in the first place and is worried about his health.
Neathery somehow made his way from Polk City to west Lakeland where he went inside a Circle K, borrowed a phone and called his family. But by the time they arrived he was gone again.

The 20-acre facility is run by the private contract company Youth Services. They referred all comments about Neathery's escape to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Several phone calls to the Department of Juvenile Justice went unanswered Sunday.

This comes at a time when many juvenile facilities in Florida and the Bay area are under fire for their treatment of juvenile offenders.

"I think the state could do more to secure these kids," Neathery said. "A maximum security facility should be maximum security. A 16-year-old kid should not be able to get past the security system, out of the building, through the fences."

 
Neathery escaped from a second-floor dorm, over barbed wire fence and past on-duty security.
But, Sam Neathery apparently did just that. Now, his mother anxiously awaits another phone call hoping answers are on the other end.

Anyone with information about Neathery's whereabouts should contact the Polk County Sheriff's Office at (863) 534-6200.

Information from Bay News 9's partner, the Lakeland Ledger, was used in this report.
  
 

 
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