Imagine your child vanishing and not knowing where he or she is.
That’s a reality for several Yellowstone County families.
The Billings Police and the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office responded to 277 runaway cases in 2024.
Watch runaway children story here:
“Blaze took off from school,” Mariya Lantz said about her 14-year-old daughter who disappeared Wednesday afternoon.
Lantz was playing detective while still trying to be a mother at home.
“I have five other kids at home that I'm trying to maintain and manage and make sure that everybody is going to be OK,” Lantz said.
Fortunately, she has a lot of support.
“I have a lot of family,” she said. “I have a lot of friends, whether it's here or far, that are calling, checking on me, looking for her, making phone calls, texts, everything.”
That included Lantz putting out 200 flyers with Blaze’s picture in downtown Billings.
Because of that, one woman spotted Blaze, called police, and Blaze was back with her mother late Friday afternoon.
Marla Grimes says a National Society of High School Scholars certificate for her daughter Mari, after she ran away.
Marla and her husband Dan added to their family after seeing Mari in a Q2 “A Waiting Child” story in January of 2024.
“I was drawn to her and I sent the video to my husband,” Grimes said. “I'm like, What do you think? It was seconds, and he said yes.”
Grimes says they were able to get a ping on their daughter's phone somewhere in the area, South 12th Street West, south of Central Avenue.
“It's not a specific address,” Grimes said.
Both mothers say they wanted police to do more.
However, an officer did check a Heights apartment for Mari.
And the Billings police followed up after receiving the reports.
According to the Montana Code Annotated, within 2 hours, law enforcement is required to inform on-duty officers, communicate with other law enforcement, and enter the missing child report into the National Crime Information Center computer system.
The center and the Montana Department of Justice have numbers for missing youth in Montana:
- 2020 – 1,610
- 2021 – 1,512
- 2022 – 1,490
- 2023 – 1,652
- 2024 – 1,570
“I just wish there was more resources for kids like her, for parents like us that are worried and scared thenm,” Grimes said.
One possible resource is Tumbleweed, which provides safety and help for vulnerable and homeless youth.
“We encourage families to get them put on the runaway list, so you just,” said Georgia Cady, Tumbleweed executive director. “Call local law enforcement and get your child listed.”
That list is on the Montana DOJ website.
Cady says Tumbleweed works to get children back home.
“We try to work with those families and see what that child needs to get back in some type of safety because the streets are not a safe place for them,” Cady said.
Now one girl is home and the other family remains optimistic.
“The fact that she responded to my emails, alone, is a good thing because she reached out,” Grimes said.
