DALLAS — Update: The missing teenagers have been found and returned home, according one of their parents.
The last time Norma Patterson saw her 13-year-old daughter, Leah Adams, was when she watched her walk to the school bus stop a little after 8 a.m. on Oct. 28.
She was with her younger sister.
Only one of them made it to school that day.
"I didn't get the notification about her being absent until later on," said Patterson.
DeSoto police believe Adams ran away with 16-year-old Jaylin Boyd. They're believed to possibly be traveling on the DART rail system. Police are working to confirm reports that Adams was seen riding the DART train near Illinois Station.
Patterson said Boyd, who's from Dallas, lived in the apartment complex where her family used to live and that she knew who he was. She said they're in a romantic relationship.
Boyd's mother, Ciara Boyd, confirmed he went missing the day before Leah.
"These past 17 days have been a nightmare," said Boyd.
Patterson said her daughter is epileptic and suffers seizures. Boyd said her son has asthma and ADHD.
Patterson said her other daughter saw Adams get into a car in a shopping center that sits right next to the bus stop and their apartment complex. However, after speaking with Boyd's mother, determined that car was not his.
"It would be someone who’d be driving him, for sure," said Patterson.
Boyd is working with the Dallas Police Department and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Patterson is working with DeSoto police. Right now, she is waiting to receive information about surveillance footage from the neighboring shopping center, so investigators can hopefully identify the vehicle Adams got in more than two weeks ago.
This was the longest Patterson has ever gone without talking to her daughter.
"I'm just tired of the missing space," Patterson said. "I need to fill the whole and put the pieces back together."