The vehicle driven by two missing Montgomery County teenagers has been found in southern Virginia, but police are still looking for the teens. Montgomery County police said 17-year-old Nicholas Balderson, who also goes by Cole, and 16-year-old Rachel E. Reilly have been missing since Jan. 12.
Virginia State Police found Nicholas’ 1989 black Jeep Wrangler abandoned at a rest stop along Route 81 in Augusta County, about 100 miles north of Roanoke, on Friday.
Police don’t know how the teens are traveling now. Lt. Paul Starks, a Montgomery County police spokesman, said detectives are working with Virginia authorities to learn where teenagers might hang out in that area.
At this point, foul play is not suspected in the case, Starks said. But the teens’ disappearance has gotten the attention of some of their friends, who have created a Facebook page aimed at finding the pair, and from “America’s Most Wanted,” which publicized the case on its Web site.
Police said Nicholas was last seen at his home on the 2300 block of Rosebranch Court in Brookeville on Jan. 12. Rachel, of Olney, was last seen with Nicholas.
Police said their families have not heard from them since they disappeared.
Starks said the teens’ parents had no indication that they planned to leave and their sustained disappearance came as a surprise. Family members say there wasn’t an argument or event that might have spurred them to run away.
Nicholas is described as a white, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. He has green eyes and shoulder-length brown hair.
Rachel is white, about 5-foot-5 and 125 pounds. She has hazel eyes and long brown hair.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Montgomery County police Family Crimes Division at 240-773-5400 or 301-279-8000.
