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Maddie Bell

Fletch

Senior Member
Supporting Member
6,078
118
JUST MADE MY DAY..... BEST NEWS IVE HEARD IN A LONG TIME.... This really had me worried, but I was on the same page as Joe and had a good feeling she was going to turn up ok.. Alot of things just didn't add up to a kidnapping... I mean someone saw the guys car and him standing around it for an hour in a wide open parking lot... He had to stand out like a sore thumb or as Joe said had to be the dumbest perp going.... But THANK GOD SHES ALIVE...THATS ALL THAT COUNTS.... Now hopefully everyone will forgive this little stunt of hers and help her get her life back on track.... Brock your a good man for doing all you did for the family and I'm sure they appreciate everything....
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,707
191
Mahoning Co.
The boy friend living with the family was a big red flag for me, add the lock down and the kid’s senior year and it was a recipe for trouble. I’d bet she was feeling trapped in that relationship. I don’t say this to excuse her actions but more a warning for parents not to put their kids in a bad situation. The road to hell is paved with good intentions
 

Bowkills

Well-Known Member
2,577
85
Nw oh
There is a girl in our town that was a around her age that appears to be the same sort of story that's being played out here. She's left 3 times with sheriff and committee looking for her. Still a minor. Glad to hear maddie is ok. Scary shit.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
Joe- I told Krista the same thing early on. If my kids went somewhere and I noticed it had been 45 minutes, I wouldn’t be worried. After and hour, I doubt very much I’d been in the car looking for them. Maybe I would. I honestly don’t know how long I go without contact at times. Mason went to a bow shoot this morning and I haven’t heard from him since he left at 8... Krista just told me they are heading back. My daughter left a couple hours ago to go to Hillsboro. I am not texting cause she is driving... maybe I should have kept a tighter leash all these years. I know when I was a kid a cell phone with my parents checking on me constantly would not have worked well. Heck I’d tell them bye on Friday and might not tell them hi until Tuesday. I don’t know how I lived through it but I did and I didn’t skip the country to start a new life.
 

Fletch

Senior Member
Supporting Member
6,078
118
Brock... Did they say where she was staying?? If at a friend's house I think someone needs to talk to these parents... If I were the parents I'd have had to call the police and fill them in on what's going on... Her parents lived a nightmare for a week....
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
I asked the sheriff this morning where they found her. He said she did not want anyone to know and since she is 18 he had to respect that. He said she wanted to start a new life and he also said she was not local which I took to mean she had traveled some distance, but again I have no idea
 

Cogz

Cogz
1,360
70
TX
She must have some hate/resentment towards her family/hometown/friends to have let this thing go this long Surely she knew what an enormous effort was put in to finding her.
She honestly could’ve been unplugged from it all. Avoidance. Then new guy or she saw a headline and called.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
I'm glad she is okay. Feel for the family, the community, and all who put effort into finding her.

With an 18yr old daughter I used it as an opportunity to talk to her about stuff like this. We aren't horribly controlling but we do EXPECT a check in so we know the kids are okay and where they are. Not every minute of every hour. If they are at location x and are going to location z. . .doesn't take but a second to text. "Hey, we are running to a friend's/the movies/DQ."
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
I do not think I had ever spoken to her mother before this thing. Her dad comes into the shop to pick up pizza. That was the extent of my relationship with him prior to all this. He’s always been a really nice man. Krista had Maddie when she was in preschool and said that her dad, Bill, always dropped her off. So she has known him longer than I have
I’ve heard less than flattering things regarding her mom today. Ultra-controlling, etc. I can believe that just because she found Maddie’s car within an hour and a half of her leaving the house... still, it all seems nuts to me.
Bill called me tonight about 6. He was really upset and wanted to talk He said he was sitting in the backyard just crying all day. He’s really distraught, obviously. It would be absolutely devastating to know your kid chose to leave home this way. I can’t even imagine.
Everyone I’ve talked to locally has said the same thing; we are all happy she’s alive and hope she finds happiness, but it sure would have been nice of her to make a phone call and end this a lot sooner than the FBI was able to.
 

Tipmoose

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
2,678
85
Grove City
Im glad she was found safe.

Both of our kids have tracking apps on their cell phones. They don't need to check in. We don't question them about where they go unless its shady. That wouldn't have helped in Maddie's case though.

What prompted us to do that was the waitress who was murdered and dumped in the park off 401 in grove city a couple years ago. She was alive long enough she could have been rescued if her parents had just known where she was.

Both of our kids are 19 and in college. They have warmed up to the tracking because they have found they can track us using the same app. So there can't be any surprise visit from mom and dad.