SARAH NELSON - 12 yo - Brockton MA

Twelve-year-old Sarah Nelson and her foster sister skipped school on Friday and went to the house of an 18-year-old male friend on Malvern Road. Nelson has not been seen since. The 18-year-old friend, Stephen Cartil, will be summoned to court on a statutory rape of a child charge after a sex act with Sarah Nelson, police reported. Nelson, who is in seventh grade at West Middle School and turns 13 next month, has never disappeared for more than a couple hours at a time, her mother, Cherie Nelson, remarked. “This is just so unlike her,” said Nelson, who said she has been combing the area near the Westgate Mall and the Honey Dew Donuts on Pleasant Street, searching for information about her daughter.

Nelson said her foster daughter, Leslie Jones, 14, told her that she and Sarah went to Cartil’s Malvern Road home early Friday afternoon. Jones told her foster mother that she waited outside for 45 minutes while Sarah was inside. When Sarah did not come back out, Jones went to Honey Dew Donuts and then came back, waited another ten minutes, and left, thinking Sarah had gone home, Cherie Nelson said. Cartil told police that Sarah Nelson left his house of her own accord after about 30 minutes, Detective Tom Hyland said. Friends of Cartil’s who were at the house have backed up that story, Nelson said. Hyland said Cartil is a person of interest in the case, but is not a suspect. Police are “exploring all avenues,” Hyland said. Cherie Nelson said she initially suspected Cartil knew more than he was saying, but she later spoke with other people who were there. “If it were early this afternoon, I would probably tell you I thought maybe something happened at that young man’s house that they’re not telling us,” Nelson said Monday evening. Nelson said she was approached by the man’s brother and another person who was there. “The fact that they approached me makes me think that maybe it wasn’t foul play,” she said. But Nelson said she has no idea where her daughter could be. “I’m out of options as to where she could go,” she said. When her daughter went missing Friday night, Cherie Nelson said she thought she might be hiding somewhere, afraid she was in trouble. On Saturday, she went to the police. “She’s not at a friend’s house afraid to come home; she’s somewhere,” said Nelson. Nelson said Sarah is liked by everyone, and doesn’t have any enemies. “She’s a very social kid, everybody knows her (and) likes her; she’s very smart, articulate, funny; she’s into fashion. No one has problems with her,” said Nelson. Friends have plastered Facebook with photos of Sarah Nelson. Cherie Nelson has put fliers with Sarah’s picture all over the area where she was last seen, and is asking people with information to call police. “That’s it, if they see her, if they hear anything, if people talk – just call,” said Nelson. “ I just want her back. I don’t care what happened. I just want her back. I don’t want to get anybody in trouble, I just want my daughter.” Anyone with information about Sarah Nelson is asked to call Brockton detectives at 508-941-0234.

BROCKTON —
A 12-year-old girl who had skipped school Friday and went missing for four days was found Tuesday morning and returned to her mother, police said.

A 12-year-old girl who had skipped school Friday and went missing for four days was found Tuesday morning and returned to her mother, police said. Her condition was not clear. The girl and her foster sister had skipped school on Friday and went to the house of an 18-year-old male friend on Malvern Road, according to her mother and police. She had not been seen after that, until Tuesday. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the girl's disappearance. The 18-year-old friend will be summoned to court on a statutory rape charge. The girl, who is in seventh grade and turns 13 next month, had never disappeared for more than a couple hours at a time, her mother claimed before she was found. The mother was seeking help in finding her daughter. “This is just so unlike her,” the mother had said, after spending the weekend combing the area near the Westgate Mall and the Honey Dew Donuts on Pleasant Street, searching for information about her daughter. The mother contacted the media and began posting signs with pictures of her daughter over the weekend, saying she was "out of options."