Day by day: Teen runaway leaves guardian with questions

Joanne Haffly

Guest columnist

The black-and-white poster caught my eye at the Wauna Post Office. Missing: Denise Ashbaugh, aka Charlotte Dillon. She has been missing since May 29.

I asked her sister, Brandy Dillon, who created and hung the poster, if Denise was still gone. She said she hasn’t heard from her 15-year-old sister since that day in May.

Denise had been struggling with readjusting to a new life. Her adopted parents lived in California and her sister had guardianship over her for a few years now. At 14, Denise went from being homeschooled to attending high school, and things went downhill from there.

“She was in three different schools,” Dillon said. “I asked everyone for help. For counseling.”

But nothing was done, and Denise began disappearing for days at a time. The last time, Dillon waited a week to contact the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, where they took a report over the phone.

It’s not a crime to run away in Washington, the dispatcher said when I contacted the sheriff’s department. It is a “status offense,” which means it is prohibited only to a certain group of people, such as teens, but not illegal when done by adults.

Examples are truancy, curfew violations or running away.

The dispatcher recommended the sister contact detectives to let them know so much time has passed since Denise left.

Now Dillon isn’t so sure this last event was a simple runaway.

“She left wearing her Spongebob pajamas and grey sweater,” Dillon said. “She didn’t bring her purse or her makeup.”

She had no money that Dillon was aware of.

Her sister did find a few things of concern. A camera with pictures of a couple with a child on one of the military bases and computer messages that indicated she was talking to Fort Lewis soldiers.

It was when she was discovered communicating to soldiers that Dillon took away Denise’s computer privileges and told her if she didn’t shape up, she would be sent back to California to her adopted parents.

Shortly after that, Denise left for the final time.

Dillon has been doing what she can to get the word out about Denise’s disappearance. She filed a report with both McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis, and she received a packet on runaways from Missing and Exploited Children that she is filling out to have that program help her distribute fliers.

The only clue Dillon has regarding Denise’s whereabouts is a computer connection on a social networking Web site. She is able to see the display page of her private profile. That gives Dillon some comfort to know that her sister is alive.

But where? And is she OK?

Denise is 15 years old, 5 feet 5, 175 pounds with brown-blond hair and hazel eyes. She also has snakebite piercing (a double piercing on her lower lip) and cartilage piercing in her left upper ear.

If you have any information regarding Denise Ashbaugh or her location, call the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department at 253-798-4940, or Dillon at 253-884-2357.

Day by Day columnist Joanne Haffly can be reached by e-mail at jmhaffly@yahoo.com.