Police work all leads in search for teen

FOSTORIA — No detail is too small as the Fostoria Police Division searches for a young city resident who has been missing for a week. Jeremiah Gardner, a 15-year-old student at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School, was reported missing on April 23 after last having been seen the previous day, Fostoria police Capt. Daniel Dell said. He remained missing on Wednesday. Gardner has been described as a Black male who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 160 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing blue jeans and a blue hooded sweatshirt. Dell said that officers certainly look for Gardner while on patrol, but the efforts go well beyond that. "We (take) any leads that family or friends can provide us," he said. "A lot of times when we share this information on Facebook or through the media, we get tips. We investigate every tip we can. We notify all area law enforcement. ... There are many different ways information can come in, eventually. We're kind of in a holding pattern of waiting for some more leads. "We did have a couple of leads that didn't pan out. Somebody actually reported that they thought they saw him in town (on Monday). The officers went out to that area and didn't have any luck in finding him. But if that was the case, if he was out and about, he might have been close to a possible place that he's staying at — with a friend or somebody who's letting him stay there. We go based off of what family tells us or any kind of leads that come in, and we check every single one of them." Dell said alerting the public about him is important to the investigation. "Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of leads," he said. "The mother gave us some places where he might be; he hasn't turned up yet. We put him on Facebook; he was entered in the computer database for missing persons. We sent out what we call a teletype, or a message to all area law enforcement that he's a missing person — look out for him. "All of his family has been notified. We just kind of want the public to be aware in case he's seen, or somebody knows him and they've seen him, to call us and report where they've seen him or if they know where he's at." The Fostoria Police Division can be reached by calling 419-435-8573.