Video: Missing Guntown Teen Highlights Issue Of Runaways For Parents, Law Enforcement

Since Thursday morning, Anita Hibbert has kept her phone by her side. She’s waiting for word about her daughter.

“The only thing we have heard is that she’s in the Dorsey area, we don’t know anything else,” Hibbert said.

Fourteen year old Alexis Perry was staying at a friend’s house Wednesday night. The next morning, Alexis was gone and hasn’t been heard from since. Hibbert says there have been issues with her and her daughter recently, but she never expected this.

“It was the worst feeling in the world for a mother,” Hibbert said.

Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson believes Alexis Perry is a runaway. He says his department deals with similar cases every month.

“Whether it’s a runaway of their own, or whether it’s an individual kidnap, the danger is still, potential danger is still out there, the resources we have to pool together to try and find them it costs the same,” Sheriff Johnson said.

Investigators are tracking down all leads from the public, friends, cell phone records and social media. Sheriff Johnson says many teenagers don’t realize the consequences of leaving home.

‘If you are listening and you are a child of that age, and you think it’s best to live out on your own, first of all I want you to know that it’s illegal, there will be punishment through the court system for it,” Johnson said.

There has been a steady stream of visitors to Hibbert’s Guntown home since her daughter went missing, and she has some advice for parents with troubled teens.

“Just try to keep a close eye on them as much as possible and try to figure out what they’re doing and who they’re hanging out with,” she said.

There is a pickup order on Alexis, that means if she is found by law enforcement, she will be brought here, to the Juvenile Detention Center, and from here, go to youth court. Also, anyone who helped her runaway, or is helping her hideout, could face criminal charges.

Alexis is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. If you have any information on her whereabouts, call Guntown Police at 662 348 2208  or the Lee County Sheriff’s Department at 662 841 9040.