Running Away As An Adult
By Amy E. Feldman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - If you are an adult, is it illegal to run away?
A man who vanished during a Denver Broncos-San Diego Chargers game last month was found, unharmed, 115 miles away, several days later. The man, who didn't return to his seat after halftime, sparked a national search when friends and family asked for the public's assistance in finding him.
Turns out he had, according to him, had his fill of football, and left. Had he been a Jets fan, perhaps no one would have been surprised that he left at halftime, but one imagines that a reasonable person who arrived with three other people including his stepson would consider that others might be worried.
Which raises the question…if you're an adult, is it illegal just to walk away?
Unlike the runaway bride case from 2009 in which a woman who failed to show up at her wedding later made a false report that she'd been kidnapped, the man didn't file a police report and in fact was honest when he was found. And unlike those who leave in the middle of the night to avoid creditors or evade the law, the man apparently had no debts or charges that he was unlawfully shirking. So he broke no laws when he left other than common courtesy.
A simple 'I'm outta here' sure would have saved some heartache.