Found Safe NJ - Thomas Kolding, 15, Mountain Lakes, 30 Oct 2018

[zecats]

From a press release issued by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office yesterday, November 10th. They are confirming that Thomas was indeed in Philly on November 3rd:

“Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of Investigations Stephen F. Wilson Jr., and Mountain Lakes Police Chief Shawn Bennett are seeking the public’s assistance in locating a 15 year old male from Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, who has been missing since October 30, 2018.

Thomas Kolding, who lives in Mountain Lakes with his parents, was last known to be at his family home on October 30, 2018. It has been confirmed that Kolding travelled by train from Denville to Newark – Broad Street Station. From there, he travelled by train from Broad Street Station to New York Penn Station. In the early afternoon of November 3, 2018, Kolding was seen in Camden, New Jersey at the Walter Rand Train Station.

[SBM]

Law enforcement officials were able to further confirm that he was later seen in Philadelphia, PA, on the corner of Race and 5th Streets, at approximately 3:00 PM on that same date.” (BBM)

More at link:
Authorities Seeking Public Assistance in Locating Missing 15 Year Old Male from Mountain Lakes, New Jersey | Morris County Prosecutor's Office

That was over a week ago. No reports have stated that he is still in the area, or if the sighting in Miami Two, Ohio is a legit sighting.

That area of Philly, in fact, that intersection is where the Constitution Center is located and only a block or 2 from Independence Hall and Liberty Bell. Lots of people in that area normally as it is the big tourist draw in town. Plus it was reported that he walked across the Ben Franklin Bridge into Philly and Race St is where he would enter the city from the pedestrian walkway over the bridge.

He supposedly doesn't have his cell phone, so how is he mapping his route? Places to stay warm? Transportation hubs? He would need some way to navigate. imo

 

[Stunned]

I don’t think the family knew how this would take off like it did.

 

[Catmommy]

I hoping he's safe and sound and already ready to go home just having the adventure of his life.

 

[bears10]

IMO, he is getting help from someone.

I totally agree. That’s why it seems like there isn’t such urgency. I think the family knows he’s getting help from someone (probably someone they know).

 

[bears10]

I don’t think the family knew how this would take off like it did.

I think they wanted to keep this private

 

[kaen]

I don't know if people talked about the possibility that this young man is traveling through couch surfing. It is a fairly easy way to find a free place to stay and move about with more ease. If you google "couch surfing", you can find some of the more popular sites to manage your travels.

 

[kaen]

Couch surfing is very popular through Europe and parts of Asia. Among young people in the US it is gaining popularity.

 

[Gardener1850]

There are places that people can hang out all night and be warm: hospital waiting rooms, 24-hour-Walmarts, fast food restaurants, train and bus stations. This is going to sound incredibly weird but if I were Thomas and wanted to not be seen, I'd dress as a young woman. 5'3 and 120 or whatever he is, is tiny for a male, but would work for an adult female.

Good points about places he can go to be warm. Those places also all have cameras. So hopefully he will be spotted and they can check the cameras to confirm it's him. No offense, but I really hope he doesn't dress as girl or else he may be in more danger. If he tried to hitchhike dressed as a girl and the driver expected a little something in exchange for the ride, then Thomas' life could be in grave danger when they found out he's a boy. He could be in danger just because he is a small boy as well, but girls getting picked up by predators is more common IMO. I hope he runs out of money and calls home so they can bring him home safe. It's a dangerous world out there and he is just a kid.

 

[Stunned]

And now the family does not know how to turn this around and off. IMO

 

[ilovematt]

I think it’s crazy to believe he’s just roaming the streets. 1,000.00 spends quickly. Not to mention he looks 13 years old. I feel like there has to be a person or persons helping him, but why is he all over the place bouncing from one location then on to the next. <modsnip - not victim friendly>

 

[1&2&3]

I am new to the case and have read from page one.

Thinking out loud, what else did the father say to TK? A discussion about grades, working to your potential etc. as the father explained the argument he and TK had prior to TK’s running away, is held in many homes every time report cards come out.

IMO the discussion was stronger, perhaps with threats. Threats of what? An intelligent child like TK doesn’t run away over a serious argument over grades. There is more to this story. JMO.

 

[SD123Me]

I’m just amazed that this kid hasn’t checked in yet, with someone. So he’s mad at Dad, what about Mom? What about a sibling or close friend? Was he a total loner? Were there mental health issues? I really hope they find him soon.

 

[realanastasia]

The low temps around Philadelphia and Delaware are dropping into the 20s on Wednesday.

Thomas won't be admitted to an male homeless shelter. All the shelters in my city require the homeless to shower nightly in the communal shower, so it's likely this is standard procedure for American homeless shelters. (Their mattresses and pillows aren't disposable and could be vectors for diseases.) No staff member is going to admit tiny, young-looking Thomas into the adult male shelter because he can't safely enter the mandatory communal shower. Some of their adult clients are homeless specifically because they're RSO.

Youth shelters are scarce and also require an ID to obtain services. They aren't domestic abuse shelters that hide their clients. The staff asks a lot of questions and will call the police and Children and Youth Services if Thomas shows up.

Even if Thomas has a fake ID, he clearly appears to be a child and homeless shelters around Philadelphia, NY, and Delaware probably have been given his photo.

Not sure that’s standard operating procedure for all homeless shelters (for example, the rotating homeless shelter hosted by a number of community churches in my old city did not require much in the way of ID nor mandate showers for participants; it depends, I guess, on where the shelter is being offered/hosted).
Additionally, Philly has a few fairly well-advertised shelters that serve “at-risk” (runaway/homeless) youth and GSM (gender or sexual minority) youth.
See Teen Shelters | Philadelphia

This is all to say that I wouldn’t discount the possibility that he could have sought (or might still be seeking) refuge in a shelter of some type—and with temperatures around 35 degrees Fahrenheit in the Philly suburbs where I live, I rather hope he is able to at least spend his nights indoors.

 

[zecats]

Not sure that’s standard operating procedure for all homeless shelters (for example, the rotating homeless shelter hosted by a number of community churches in my old city did not require much in the way of ID nor mandate showers for participants; it depends, I guess, on where the shelter is being offered/hosted).
Additionally, Philly has a few fairly well-advertised shelters that serve “at-risk” (runaway/homeless) youth and GSM (gender or sexual minority) youth.
See Teen Shelters | Philadelphia

This is all to say that I wouldn’t discount the possibility that he could have sought (or might still be seeking) refuge in a shelter of some type—and with temperatures around 35 degrees Fahrenheit in the Philly suburbs where I live, I rather hope he is able to at least spend his nights indoors.

All good points. And found something similar in Dayton Ohio if indeed he went that way.
Daybreak | About Daybreak | Changing Lives, Changing Futures

My 2 questions with this are that if he left his cell phone home, how he could navigate all these possibilities without going online? And is he the kind of “independent” kid who would seek out this kind of help?

 

[Brownie01]

If he wanted to have a big adventure and see the world, staying in homeless shelters doesn’t sound like something a young man from an affluent family would want to do. I’m hoping he’s on a cross country bus or someplace warm and safe. Heading south wouldn’t help right now as we’ve had temps in the 30s overnight. I agree that there must have been more to provoke this than grades. And I agree that it would be difficult to do much planning, even day to day planning like where is the closest fast food, without internet access.

 

[charminglane]

Guest pass at any library is where he is probably doing his googling.

 

[Hippononymous]

The longer this goes on, the less sense it makes.

 

[Brownie01]

Guest pass at any library is where he is probably doing his googling.

But wouldn’t librarians wonder about a 15 year old boy hanging around the library during the school day? As in, why isn’t he in school?

 

[Brownie01]

But if it is the library couldn’t the family get word out to some national librarian network to be on the lookout for him?

 

[Alleykins]

Well, if I had to guess, if the argument was about grades, it most likely wasn't about good grades. It sounds like maybe there was some disagreement about the consequences.