Missing: 13-Year-Old Boy Leaves Home in Family Van, May Have a Gun

Crews will return to a thickly forested area of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Tuesday morning to search for a 13-year-old boy who left his home early Monday in the family van and hasn’t been seen since.

The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said investigators pinged James Yablonski’s cell phone and found it off Highway 12 along the eastbound lanes near Baraboo Bluffs and the westernmost portion of Devil’s Lake State Park, WMTV reported.

The van was found in the west bound lanes of the highway, Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said. A campsite was found during the search in the woods off the highway, but there was no sign of young Yablonski.

The sheriff’s office suspended the search Monday night, concerned about the safety of search crews working in the rugged area after dark.

Most troubling, Meister said, was that the boy’s father told deputies a handgun was missing from the home, although they couldn’t say if the boy had taken it.

“He just noticed that there is a handgun missing from the house, so that was one of the reasons you saw us release the fire department, the civilian personnel, and then we asked for the neighboring county, Columbia County, to come and help with the search,” said Meister.

Meister said some searchers would remain at the campsite overnight.

Anyone with information is asked call the sheriff’s office at 608-355-4495.

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[Featured image: James Yablonski/Sauk County Sheriff’s Office]

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