Missing teen found

Christopher Craven’s car went off road, down an embankment, police say

Christopher Craven, 17, who had been missing since Sunday evening, Sept. 16, “has been located and is doing well,” Upper Gwynedd police said late Tuesday evening, Sept. 18.

Upper Gwynedd police Chief David Duffy said Wednesday the teen had been driving home from work on the Route 202 Parkway southbound, just north of County Line Road in Warrington Township, when he disappeared Sunday evening.

“It’s not a route that he usually takes, and he went off the road, around a curve, and struck a tree,” Duffy said.

“He was about 10 feet down an embankment, and he was there, based on our cellphone records, probably there for a good part of Monday until he ventured off into the woods,” he said.

Pennsylvania State Police and Philadelphia Police Department helicopters were deployed to search along both Route 202 and the 202 Parkway, according to the chief, but would not have been able to see the area where Craven’s vehicle was found.

“There’s no way it would’ve been seen from the air. You can’t see where the car was from the roadway at all, and there were no brake or skid marks going off the road,” Duffy said.

“Fortunately, a Warrington police officer who is very familiar with the area, took the time to stop and get out, and was checking certain areas on foot,” he said.

Craven was found Tuesday evening near the intersection of 202 and County Line Road in Montgomery Township, and was conscious but had no memory of what had happened roughly 48 hours earlier, according to the chief. Craven appeared to have not been wearing a seat belt, and is currently being evaluated at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for unknown injuries, Duffy said.

Family members were in constant contact with the police and were “very forthcoming and cooperative,” he said, “and we also got a lot of tips and support from the public, which we appreciate.”

As a precaution, Duffy said readers are asked to consider changing their cellphone location settings to make finding one when missing more easy.

“I know people like to have their privacy, but we had a lot of difficultly with his phone, getting an accurate location, because it was not set for that,” Duffy said.

“People should consider that, just in case of emergencies — it gave us a wide radius, and that was hard to work with,” he said.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Chris Craven has been found.