AK AK - Mason Roberson, 16, took off after his parents caught him drinking, smashed his phone, homeschooled, Anchorage, 18 May 2024

[beatrixpotter]

I just want to say that I give the parents credit for surviving. I cannot imagine what they are going through, the retrospection, the recriminations, all that had gone on traumatically leading up to that night, the ongoing search, the not knowing. I have three daughters and if this happened with one of them I am not sure where I would find the strength to go on.

I agree this is just so awful. I can't imagine how I would ever cope if my teen walked out of the house and I just never saw them again. It's a little hard to believe that he found a safe place to stay and he's just not going to bother contacting his parents, not even once, till he turns 18 yo. Not many people are going to take in a teenager and fully support them and never question it. Or if they would they are less likely to be good people. Feeding an extra teenage boy in Alaska is a significant dent in someone's grocery budget right now if that's the case.

 

[Chimera]

Following.
Mason's parents were just trying to ... parent him.
Hope he's found safe somehow, somewhere.
But with the passing of time it doesn't sound good at all.
Sorry if he was depressed or other issues, and also feel terribly for his worried loved ones !
Ugh.
Imo.

 

[steff13]

I'm just now learning about this case. I am a little surprised that he would leave given that his parents had already lost one child but then teenagers obviously don't always think everything through clearly. Do we think that the November 1 text was from him?

 

[Kittypoo]

I doubt it would help. Google satelline uses a prety low resolution, which makes it near impossible to distinguish a body from other features. It HAS been used to find a car, with remains in the car, but not a body by itself (that I know of).

The amount of water in the immediate area is concerning quite apart from the mud flats. Were divers ever involved in the search?
So sad and tragic. Unlikely I would have thought that he’s hiding out after all this time IMO

 

[Kittypoo]

I'm just now learning about this case. I am a little surprised that he would leave given that his parents had already lost one child but then teenagers obviously don't always think everything through clearly. Do we think that the November 1 text was from him?

Where is a text on November 1 mentioned sorry I’ve missed something

 

[Gemmie]

I'm just now learning about this case. I am a little surprised that he would leave given that his parents had already lost one child but then teenagers obviously don't always think everything through clearly. Do we think that the November 1 text was from him?

Very well sounds like it could be considering he spoke in code IMO.

Mysterious texts arrive months later​

Then, six months later, the family was shocked when Romero received a text.

“So on Mason’s 17th birthday, which was Nov. 1, I received a text about seven o’clock in the morning,” Romero said. “It basically said, long time, no see. I hope you are all right.

The saying “long time, no see,” was one the family used as a joke when Mason would come up from the basement.

But when Romero texted the unknown number back, she got no answer.

Then, just weeks ago, around Mother’s Day, she received another text, from a different number, asking how her day was and if she had some fun.

https://www.newsnationnow.com/missing/mason-roberson/

 

[steff13]

Where is a text on November 1 mentioned sorry I’ve missed something

Redirect Notice

“So on Mason’s 17th birthday, which was Nov. 1, I received a text about seven o’clock in the morning,” Romero said. “It basically said, long time, no see. I hope you are all right.”
The saying “long time, no see,” was one the family used as a joke when Mason would come up from the basement.
But when Romero texted the unknown number back, she got no answer.
Then, just weeks ago, around Mother’s Day, she received another text, from a different number, asking how her day was and if she had some fun.

 

[Spectrix]

Not a silly question. I had to do some research on the mudflats. This article is hard to read in parts, due to the nature of how some people died out there, but it's got some interesting information. The true history of Cook Inlet’s deadly mud flats

Those mud flats sound terrifying.

 

[GraceG]

Redirect Notice

“So on Mason’s 17th birthday, which was Nov. 1, I received a text about seven o’clock in the morning,” Romero said. “It basically said, long time, no see. I hope you are all right.”
The saying “long time, no see,” was one the family used as a joke when Mason would come up from the basement.
But when Romero texted the unknown number back, she got no answer.
Then, just weeks ago, around Mother’s Day, she received another text, from a different number, asking how her day was and if she had some fun.

There's part of me that thinks the texts from an unknown number could be a scam or prank, and the choice of words "long time no see", having no specific, familiar, meaning. . .BUT, in reading the article I got that this wasn't a "one time" thing where he got into the liquor cabinet while his folks were gone (been there done that, hoped until my 50's that Dad never opened the little collectible liquor bottle shaped like a bull and found the whiskey was now water). But it sounds like he was struggling with early stages of alcoholism. That fits the behavior from my own experiences (alcoholism runs in my bio family). Could he have gotten help? Could his reaching out be a tentative Step 8 in a 12-step program where one "makes amends" to those they have hurt or harmed? The "Mom" in me, hopes that is the case, the scientist part of me thinks it's also likely didn't survive the night.

But I'm all for hope, until there is none left.