TN TN - SLP, 14, Madisonville, Monroe County, 13 Jan 2019

[GoBuckeyes]

Honestly, I am not liking this situation at all. We have basic information that we commonly learn early in missing cases not out there, we have a press conference two weeks out handled by the local police despite having both the TBI and FBI involved and the press conference wasn't handled all that well, I don't like that Savannah started another Facebook just under 12 hours after her last post on her previous one, it was raining when she disappeared, no way she walked out of there, and it is as if there is some kind of elephant in the room.

I'm behind and trying to piece together things about Savannah's disappearance from 2 separate threads. Can you share more about the elephant in the room feeling you get? TIA Also, any idea why it took them 2 weeks to hold a presser? Again, TIA

 

[TheVic]

I hope this is just inaccurate reporting/taken out of context, and that her mother really isn't speaking of her in past tense.

"She was very loving, very bubbly," Pruitt's mom told CNN affiliate WATE. "A ray of sunshine."

Tennessee police, FBI searching for 14-year-old girl missing for two weeks - CNN

 

[Jim_M]

I hope this is just inaccurate reporting/taken out of context, and that her mother really isn't speaking of her in past tense.

"She was very loving, very bubbly," Pruitt's mom told CNN affiliate WATE. "A ray of sunshine."

Tennessee police, FBI searching for 14-year-old girl missing for two weeks - CNN

Yes. Both parents were speaking in past tense. Probably caused by the horror and stress from dealing with their missing girl. At least that's how I'm viewing this right now. I reserve the right to change my mind when/if more information comes out.

IMO I cannot know how I would respond to a similar situation.

Be safe young Savannah

 

[GoBuckeyes]

What kind of information could they be withholding? I assume it's a clue that was left behind. Maybe a note?

It sounds like she moved during winter break. School started Jan. 8 in her new city. Notice that there are no details of the time when she left nor the circumstances. We don't even know what she was wearing. That leads me to wonder if she left when nobody was home or in the middle of the night. I'm guessing at night when everyone was asleep.

Her dad is a truck driver. So she knows the ins and outs of traveling the highways. But would she hop into a truck with a stranger? I doubt that. Where would she go? Why would she leave in the first place?

Four days at a new school isn't much time to get to know anyone. So I'm not seeing it as leaving with someone she met at school.

The Sheriff was clear that they have no information indicating that she planned to leave voluntarily, but then he followed it up with some information is being withheld in case there ends up being some kind of prosecution. Huh? That's as clear as mud to me. Can somebody give me a different take on that, please? TIA

 

[TheVic]

The Sheriff was clear that they have no information indicating that she planned to leave voluntarily, but then he followed it up with some information is being withheld in case there ends up being some kind of prosecution. Huh? That's as clear as mud to me. Can somebody give me a different take on that, please? TIA

It makes me wonder if they found something on social media? If she is home-schooled that is likely one of her few outlets.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I wonder why they said ‘help us find our baby”? She’s not a baby. Since she was homeschooled maybe she felt her family was controlling or restrictive therefor running toward independence. She doesn’t seem like an atypical runaway, was she maybe chatting to someone online?

Law enforcement has stated emphatically that they have no evidence to suggest that she was planning on leaving, either alone or within someone. They have combed her cellphone records, and I would definitely think all social media too.

I don't read anything into the "bring my baby home" comment. It rings true to me, genuine emotion and anguish from parents who long to hold their child again safely in their arms.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

It was Sunday into Monday morning. Per her mother, and stated by law enforcement in the press conference Friday (linked on this thread), she was last seen on Sunday around 11pm and her mother found her missing between 4:00am and 4:30am Monday morning.

Yes, a move at 14 would be difficult. I’ve followed this case all along, but I’d missed the info that LE is withholding info at this time. I’m just hoping it includes a pretty good lead on where she may be.

In one article earlier in the thread, it states that they were moving back to TN from Georgia. It seemed as if maybe even moving back to the same town they lived previously. Her mother commented that Savannah had been excited about the move and farm life.

 

[JerseyGirl]

FBI joins search for missing Tennessee teen

 

[Jethro4WS]

In one article earlier in the thread, it states that they were moving back to TN from Georgia. It seemed as if maybe even moving back to the same town they lived previously. Her mother commented that Savannah had been excited about the move and farm life.

Their previous addresses were in Jefferson County, TN - about 80 miles NNE of Monroe County. There is no address history for this part of Tennessee where they just moved for either mom or dad.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

It makes me wonder if they found something on social media? If she is home-schooled that is likely one of her few outlets.

It might be one of her few outlets, but not necessarily so. The homeschool experience seems to range widely from little outside contact on one end of the spectrum, to well-organized consortiums where social skills, cooperative learning, and field trips are part of the experience.

Do they have other family in the area? Would she already have known people at her new church from times when she visited family previously?

Allowing a 14 year-old a cellphone, let alone 2, one for her Georgia number, that may have been consolidated into 1 account soon enough, doesn't seem to me to be overly strict??

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Their previous addresses were in Jefferson County, TN - about 80 miles NNE of Monroe County. There is no address history for this part of Tennessee where they just moved for either mom or dad.

Thank you for the clarification, Jethro.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

This says they just moved BACK to town. So the family would already know people in town. They lived there before.

That's how I read it, too, OC. But Jethro added information below on the family's previous address history that he could find. If that record is complete and accurate, it seems they only moved back to the same region of the state.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

MISSING: Tenn. deputies searching for 14-year-old who used to live in Gwinnett
Kevin Rowson, a spokesperson for the FBI field office in Atlanta, said Pruitt used to live in Lawrenceville.

"The girl lived in Lawrenceville, Ga. for many years before moving to Knoxville four weeks before she disappeared. So she has many contacts here from school friends, etc.," Rowson said.

Has she only recently begun schooling at home? If so, what factored into that decision? That's interesting.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I wonder why they said ‘help us find our baby”? She’s not a baby. Since she was homeschooled maybe she felt her family was controlling or restrictive therefor running toward independence. She doesn’t seem like an atypical runaway, was she maybe chatting to someone online?

Law enforcement has gone through all cell records and SM accounts and have repeatedly said that nothing indicates that she was planning to leave voluntarily, alone or with other(s).

Also, she hasn't always been homeschooled. A school official in Georgia was interviewed and said that Savannah has many friends through school there. Sometimes assumptions are made about homeschooling. Sometimes those assumptions are very accurate, but sometimes they are not.

 

[JudgeJoe]

This is Savannah's house ... don't think she walked out of there
Google Maps


ETA: The sale of this house is recorded as 12/19/2018.

Oh wow... Usually the first thing I do in a new-to-me case is go to Google Maps & see where it is. Didn’t do that here until your post. Savannah’s home is nestled in a huge tourism area. Appalachian Trail, Great Smoky Mountain National Park (the most visited NP in the USA), Bryson City, Deep Creek, Fontana Dam, Cherokee, 5 ski resorts, many scenic roads & lookout towers including the nation’s most famous motorcycle stretch- Tail of the Dragon road... All less than an hour from their new home. Could be a lot of non-local people passing through.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Wonder what made mom go check on her at 430am?

Are they a conservative family? Could she be looking for some freedom?

For those involved in farm life, even on a small scale, 4:30a.m. is a very reasonable hour to wake everyone and get them moving toward their respective farm activities.

IMOO, at this point, too much is being read by many into Savannah being homeschooled, with the assumption that she was being smothered by overly strict parents. She wasn't always homeschooled. According to a school official in GA, Savannah had many friends from her time (years) in school there.

Finally, regardless of parental approach, what 14 year-old isn't looking for more freedom? But IMOO, it's too early to assume freedom seeking is the likely cause of this situation. But as more information comes in, I reserve the right to agree with you in the future. We just don't know many details about much of anything right now. Wish they would have held a presser 2 weeks ago.

 

[Yellow Rose]

Good grief, certainly by looking at that map it seems to put a different spin on things. She could NOT have walked away from there, and most especially not in the darkness of night.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Good grief, certainly by looking at that map it seems to put a different spin on things. She could NOT have walked away from there, and most especially not in the darkness of night.

Yes- she didn't walk to I75 and hitch a ride to Ky. LE should be on the cameras along that route-

 

[Jethro4WS]

Oh wow... Usually the first thing I do in a new-to-me case is go to Google Maps & see where it is. Didn’t do that here until your post. Savannah’s home is nestled in a huge tourism area. Appalachian Trail, Great Smoky Mountain National Park (the most visited NP in the USA), Bryson City, Deep Creek, Fontana Dam, Cherokee, 5 ski resorts, many scenic roads & lookout towers including the nation’s most famous motorcycle stretch- Tail of the Dragon road... All less than an hour from their new home. Could be a lot of non-local people passing through.

Take a step down to Street View. I don't know that the road is even a lane and a half. Not the kind of road anyone uses unless they live there.

 

[FrankieT]

FBI joins search for missing Tennessee teen

From this article..."It's like having your soul ripped out of your body," Randall Pruitt said at a press conference with authorities on Friday. "You can't think, you can't eat, you can't sleep, you can't rest -- life has just ceased for us since she left."

"We love her dearly and we want her home -- I love you, and come home," the Pruitt parents said, finishing each other's sentences, according to WATE.

This is a new case to me. Even though I live 2 hours away from this area I only saw this recently here on WS. I grew up only a couple of miles from their home. I love this area and am heart broken for the family. So I have thought about it very personally, trying to put myself in their place. I know that isn't possible but it made something stick out in this quoted portion above. If my child were missing it would sound strange to say, "since she left." Does that mean they think she left? Would you say, "...and come home?" No doubt they love her and are terrified for her and want her home, but both of those seem to put the movement, the decision to be gone, on her. That could be totally not what they intended to convey, it just sounded that way when I read the article.

Wishing the very best for her and her family, a quick happy reunion. This is my observation only.