UPDATE (3 p.m. January 17) Elijah Kirchner-Jiron has been found, according to family members.
Elijah’s step mother Elaina Jiron reached out to CDLLife to let us know that Elijah has been found safe and is now in police custody.
ORIGINAL STORY———————————————————————————-
A trucking family is asking for help from the public in locating their teen son who went missing while they were at a truck stop in Georgia.
Police say that 14-year-old Elijah Kirchner-Jiron went missing from the Flying J Travel Center in Temple, Georgia, around 1 p.m. on Sunday, January 13. Kirchner-Jiron reportedly exited the truck stop after showering and while his father was still in the shower, leaving the building by a side door.
Family friend Kimberly Czarnota said in a Facebook post that the teen was spotted later in the evening on January 13 with a man in a pickup truck:
Police were notified, he is currently listed on the NCIC national database for missing children. He used our stolen rewards card to purchase items with points at the Pilot across the street on 1/13/19. The evening of 1/13 we spotted him at the pilot in an unknown man’s small, faded, old black pickup truck. He had changed clothes. We tried to get him but he ran on foot (I couldn’t keep up) and the other man sped away almost hitting me. The license plate begins with RLO , i couldn’t get/ remember the rest. This man appeared to be a white Male, approximately late thirties early 40’s. Light brown hair and unkempt. Possibly living in his vehicle and travelling with a small dog possibly chihuahua mix. The pickup was seen circling back around the parking lot we assume to pick up our son before disappearing.
Czarnota said that that Kirchner-Jiron had been “on the truck with his dad and I for the past few months for behavior issues” when he went missing. Temple police say that he has a history of running away.
Kirchner-Jiron is described as a 14 year old male with brown hair and brown eyes who stands 6’2″ and weighs 200 lbs. He was last seen wearing khaki pants and an olive green shirt, but police say that he could now be wearing a blue hoodie and burgundy shorts. Investigators believe he may be trying to to get to Iowa where his birth mother lives.
If you spot Kirchner-Jiron, you’re asked to call the Temple Police Department at 770-562-3151 or simply dial 911.