Earlier this week local media outlets reported that the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office was in search of a missing 17-year-old male. DeVante Strothers has not been seen since July 2.
According to the report released by the sheriff’s office on July 6, Strothers is a biracial male with brown eyes, light brown hair and is 6-2 and weighs 170 pounds. If anyone has any information about the teenager’s whereabouts, Chief Deputy John Schultz requests a call to 1-800-843-5678, or to Sheriff’s Dispatch at 304-234-3606.
“We have received reports of possible sightings, and every tip we receive is checked out,” Schultz explained. “But when you have a young person who is a runaway who doesn’t want to be found, it doesn’t help the process. What we really need is someone out there who calls and says, ‘I know who this person is, and I know where they are.’
“In a lot of these cases, the person who is missing just wants to do their own thing, but as a juvenile, they still don’t have that choice,” the chief deputy said. “Searching for a missing person is a lengthy process because there is a lot of information we have to collect so we can narrow it down. Plus, we work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and with the National Crime Information Center, so if they are found anywhere and are identified, it comes back to us.”
Eyes and Ears
According to NCIC statistics, there were a total of 543,018 missing person reports in the United States in 2020, including more than 365,000 involving juveniles.
“We do check out social media for any clues that could be on there, and we have also coordinated with the Wheeling Police Department just like we do in every other situation similar to this one,” Schultz said. “We do share as much as we can with the public because it may provoke that phone call we need to find this young man. We need as many eyes out there looking for him and helping us.
“In a case involving a missing juvenile, the family can help if they choose to cooperate,” he said. “But most of the time we’re playing catch-up because a parent or guardian may not file a missing person report for 12 to 24 hours after the fact. Sometimes, if they have a chance to get support outside of this area, they leave and go elsewhere. We have had cases like that in the past.”
Once again, anyone with information, please call 1-800-843-5678, or Sheriff’s Dispatch at 304-234-3606.
“Law enforcement always needs assistance from the public because our deputies and the Wheeling police officers cannot be everywhere,” Schultz said. “And we do get a lot of help from the people here in Ohio County, and we appreciate it very much. In missing person cases, it’s the public that usually offers us the best clues so we can get the child back to where they belong.”
