Camas police officers worked throughout the weekend following up on tips and chasing leads to find a Camas teenager who has been missing since Thursday. As of Monday, however, they hadn’t found him.
Police have followed up on every tip received since Cole Burbank was reported missing, said Officer Debra Riedl.
Tips include reported possible sightings of Cole Burbank in places such as Longview and some Oregon cities including Bend and Depoe Bay. An officer obtained all of the phone numbers Burbank recently contacted on his mobile phone and called each one, looking for leads, Riedl said.
“If we don’t have a good lead, or a good place to go from, we’re stuck like everyone else,” she said.
Burbank, 16, was last seen in class at about 7:45 a.m. Thursday at Camas High School. He left campus in his black 2010 Honda Accord, Washington license plate AKW 3441, to attend Running Start classes at Clark College. But he never showed up for class and hasn’t been seen or heard from since, police said.
Police attempted to ping Burbank’s mobile phone to locate him, but that was unsuccessful; it is either turned off or not functioning.
Since Burbank was reported missing, a Facebook group has been set up to coordinate the efforts of volunteers searching for him. The page includes posts of volunteers lending ideas of where to search, offering to help post fliers and describing how they’ve searched Clark County, Portland and beyond.
“Your dad and I are ready for you to come home,” said his mother, Michelle Burbank, at a press conference at a friend’s house Monday. “Whatever situation you are in, whether by yourself, with friends or held against your will, we are ready to do whatever it takes to bring you home.
“If you aren’t being held against your will, please just come home,” she said. “Not a single person will be upset, honey.”
Michelle Burbank also thanked the volunteers out searching and those helping out her family.
Amy Hoffman, a friend of Michelle Burbank’s who has been helping organize search efforts, said the Vancouver Police Department has joined the search, which is promising.
Volunteer searchers, numbering in the hundreds, have been combing different corners of the county since the weekend, Hoffman said.
Some group members, including Burbank’s family, have expressed frustration with police efforts. But Riedl said that officers didn’t take the weekend off.
The moment Burbank was reported missing, he was entered into the reporting system and added to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database. That means that if someone sees Burbank or his vehicle anywhere in the country and it’s reported to police, Camas police will be notified.
What happened to Burbank is a hard question to answer, Riedl said.
“It’s hard to put a label on it because there’s no evidence he was taken by force or he’s been victimized,” Riedl said.
She encouraged people to keep calling 911 with tips — anyone who sees Burbank or his vehicle, or who has information on his whereabouts is asked to call 911 immediately.
Burbank is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing dark jeans and a dark sweatshirt.
“We all care, we want Cole home just as much as his parents,” Riedl said. “We need calls and tips to keep coming because that’s the way this is going to be resolved.”
