Father Arrested After Son Goes Missing For A Month
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PLANTATION (CBSMiami) – A neighbor of a teen who has been missing for a month sheds new light after his father was arrested Wednesday.
"Overly polite, maybe one of the most polite boys," Kristen Lake said of 16-yar-old Aage Jorgensen.
Lake is an old friend of Aage's father, Bruce Jorgensen.
The Jorgensens moving to Plantation in the summer of 2015 so the teen could play tennis there.
Lake was stunned to hear police arrested Mr. Jorgensen at Miami International Airport with a one-way ticket to New Zealand.
"This has been a very emotional last several weeks knowing he may not be okay," Lake said. "And with news of the arrest tonight it kind of validates the fears."
Lake says her family last saw the teen on December 20th and he seemed fine.
Another woman told police the teen asked her for a ride on December 27th, the same day Jorgensen told police he threw his son out of the car for being rude – the last time he saw him.
Mr. Jorgensen withdrew the boy from school after winter break.
Police say Mr. Jorgensen has refused to help them nor would he file a missing person's report 19 days after Aage disappeared. It was actually someone else who notified authorities.
"We do wanna stress though, in case he's watching these news reports that he's not in any trouble," said Plantation police Det. Philip Toman. "We want him to reach out to us to tell us he's okay."
The arrest warrant for Mr. Jorgensen raises more questions than answers.
It indicates the father-son duo don't have much of a traceable history. The two also move around a lot and Mr. Jorgensen pays in cash – including thousands in rent and private school tuition.
There is no mother in the picture and family is estranged.
Jorgensen refused to give police his date of birth and social security number.
The father's car with Oklahoma tags sat outside their Plantation apartment where police found a letter from father to son.
Police say nothing indicates foul play. But as each day goes by with no sign of the boy, they get more concerned.
And looking back, Lake wishes she'd noticed any red flags.
"That's why I'm currently struggling, because I wish there had been," she said.