So confused about the "runaway" status. If he was at a friend's and didn't come home on time and couldn't be found right away, how would that magically turn him into a runaway? Is that how SM reported him to LE?
This makes me think of Alissa Turney (just heard a podcast about her) - she "went missing" and her stepfather called LE but told them she just ran away and was probably with her aunt in California so they shouldn't look too hard. But he told the family he'd said something else to LE, and acted all frantic and worried, organized searches, etc. (All evidence points to him as killing her and disposing of her body, which has never been found.)