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Teenasia Scobey-Polacheck
Update: Teenasia has been found and is home safe with her family.
Every July 3, Annemarie and Bill Scobey-Polacheck bike to the lakefront with their children for the fireworks. But this year, the circumstances made it difficult to enjoy.
Their 16-year-old daughter, Teenasia, has been missing since she ran away from their home July 1 after her parents took her phone away. Her mother, Annemarie, said they took the phone because they were worried about an older co-worker of hers who was communicating with her.
“We just want to keep her safe,” said Annemarie.
Teenasia left on her black and gray bicycle, wearing a gray tank top and black volleyball shorts.
She was last seen Sunday, July 9, 2018 wearing black leggings, near 15th Street and Center Street in Milwaukee. A woman told police she spoke with her for nearly an hour; she contacted police after seeing a TV news report about the girl’s disappearance.
Teenasia is approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall, 160 pounds, with a dark complexion and short black hair, according to the Glendale Police Department.
What led to Teenasia running away
Teenasia’s parents got worried about her when a co-worker in his 30s kept communicating with her, despite being told to stop.
When the two continued to talk, Teenasia’s parents took away her phone. The 16-year-old got upset and left while her parents were getting food ready on their patio.
“We didn’t even know she left at first,” said Annemarie Scobey-Polacheck, Teenasia’s mother. “We noticed her bike was gone and immediately got in the car and drove around the city looking for her.”
They filed a missing person’s report but didn’t hear anything for days.
On July 5, they received an email from Teenasia telling them she was safe, but not much else.
They later learned that she had ridden her bike to an acquaintance’s house in Whitefish Bay and stayed with his family, claiming she had been kicked out of her home.
She asked to be dropped off at 15th and Center on July 5, near a Boys and Girls Club location; security camera footage shows she never went inside.
The Whitefish Bay family contacted police after seeing a news report about the missing girl on July 6. Annemarie and her husband, Bill, were notified of this on July 8, the first news of their daughter since she had gone missing a week earlier.
Then on July 9, Annemarie spoke on a TV broadcast, pleading for Teenasia to come home. A woman who had spoken to Teenasia the day before saw the broadcast and contacted police. She reportedly talked to Teenasia for about 45 minutes in the area around 15th and Center.
Teenasia’s family asks anyone with any information about Teenasia’s whereabouts should call Glendale police at 414-228-1753.
