Scottie Morris still missing after polygraph tests, infrared cameras, search parties
EATON, Ind. — A search for a missing 14-year-old Eaton boy entered its fifth day on Monday.
Scottie Dean Morris, 14, left his family's home about 8:30 p.m. Thursday and has not been seen since.
"We've conducted several interviews and polygraph tests," Eaton Police Chief Jay Turner said Monday morning.
THE LATEST:Search for Scottie Morris stops as police run out of places to look
Eaton community comes together to search for missing teen after Silver Alert issued
Search parties — made up of both law enforcement professionals, emergency responders and volunteers — combed the area around Eaton, a town of about 1,500 residents nine miles north of Muncie, on both Friday and Saturday.
"It's unbelievable the way the community has come together," Turner said, referring both to the searches and efforts by others to support those looking for the teen.
Previously:Silver Alert issued for missing Eaton teen
Officials with Delaware Community Schools were on hand with Eaton police on Monday and providing school buses to transport searchers.
The on-the-ground search efforts were temporarily halted on Sunday to allow Indiana State Police troopers in helicopters to scan the area using infrared cameras.
The searching was to resume Monday in areas including near the iron bridge east of the unincorporated community of Granville, and near other bridges along Eaton-Wheeling Pike.
Officers with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources were also going to search areas of the Mississinewa River.
The searches are not being randomly conducted, Turner said. The Delaware County Emergency Management Agency has helped set up "professional grid searches."
Eaton teen Scottie Morris described as 'very nice young man'
Turner said his department has had no previous dealings with Scottie Morris, who the chief said was described as a "very nice young man" by those who know him, including staff at Delta Middle School.
The teen had apparently been in conflict with adults at his home on Thursday, and after the disappearance, Eaton police at first posted a photo online — reportedly taken earlier that day — that showed the youth looking unhappy and wearing a shirt that had words scrawled on it, referring to the boy as a liar.
The photo was later cropped to no longer show the wording on the shirt. Turner said the photo had been posted quickly because of concerns for the boy's safety, given that he was last seen wearing shorts and a T-shirt on an especially cold evening.
Police conducted polygraph tests in search for Eaton boy
Asked whether the boy's parents were considered suspects in his disappearance, Turner said, "We've done polygraph tests and we're looking elsewhere."
One hope is that the teenager might be staying in a local home. Del-Com schools are on spring break and some families are out of town on vacation, Turner noted.
A statewide Silver Alert for Scottie Morris was issued at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
He is described as five feet four inches tall, 150 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes, and was last seen wearing black shoes, red and black shorts and a white T-shirt with writing on the front.
Anyone with information on Scottie Dean Morris is asked to call the Eaton Police Department at 765-396-3297 or 911.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Indiana Silver Alert: Search still on for Eaton teen Scottie Dean Morris
