I'm new to all this. Harley has really crawled under my skin. Perhaps because he reminds me so much of myself at that age. And of my son. I fear he did something rash. But if so, wouldn't he have been found? I feel so many people failed him. No one searched soon enough. What if he got stuck somewhere? But then I guess they would have found him. I suspect a small town cover up. When school starts back up, more info will probably come out. Why turn away help? And the LE facebook posts sound quite agitated. But I'm just grasping at straws. They may just be overwhelmed and angry because they didn't move quicker.
Kids do run away, and he may choose to stay away. My aunt disappeared for 2 years when she his age. My uncle found her at the beach with her BF one day. However, no back pack in that pic, if it was him, I don't think he planned to run. Did his mom lock him out again? If so he may choose to stay gone til she admits it. If he was mine I would be crying and apologizing for anything I did to make him think running was a better option. She should. No matter what he's a child, she is responsible to fix things.
I would love to say a kid couldn't disappear in a small town without being seen. But nowadays everyone is so unaware of what is actually happening around them, IRL, it is totally possible no one saw anything. This is why I prefer to stare out window, and not at my phone.
I live in a small town roughly the same size, and this has reminded me to pay very close attention to everyone I see. Just in case I may be the last to. We had a 15 yrs old disappear about 17 years ago. They found his remains within a week though.