A Florida mother is pleading for answers after her 13-year-old son disappeared two weeks ago, questioning why police didn't issue an alert.
Wendy Burnett said her son, a good student who loves his family and sports, has no history of running away. "This isn't his nature," Burnett said, according to NEWS4.
She last saw her son, Alekzander "Zander" Burnett, at their home on Nov. 4, hours after he returned from wrestling practice. By the early morning of Nov. 5, she realized he was missing and reported it to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
"I notified JSO, and they were very nonchalant about it," she said. "This is an A-B student who loves sports and his family. This isn't his nature."
Burnett also revealed that Zander had recently been disciplined for sneaking out of a relative's house, and his phone had been taken away, NEWS4 also revealed.
Her frustrations deepened when she noticed a be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) alert for an 11-year-old issued the same day they went missing, yet Zander never received one.
Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney explained that alerts are often prioritized for younger children. "It's usually what's considered that tender age, which is around 12 and younger," Hackney said. "That gets a little bit more attention. As you start hitting those teenage years, that's kind of the bright line there in some cases."
Burnett suspects Zander's girlfriend and another friend may know his whereabouts but haven't come forward. She also fears something more serious may have happened. "I'm like, this is a kid that's always with his family, and now for whatever, this young lady or these two girls that I don't even know, could have took him in the woods somewhere, or, you know, outed him, 'We can't have him. Mama can't have him' is this way I feel," she said.
Zander's missing poster includes a warning: "It is a crime to knowingly provide false information concerning a missing child." Hackney said such warnings are common but suggest there may be more to the story.
"When you see that on a poster, it makes you think there's more to the story," Hackney said. "But any missing child deserves the attention of their parents, law enforcement, and the public to help bring them home."
Burnett had one final message for her son: "I love you. Come home."
