Local & State Headlines

Ex-TJC student missing

• A concerned mother makes a 220-mile trip to find her missing son, a former student at Turner Job Corps.

Joshua Brown

ALBANY — An Augusta woman is in Albany to search for her missing son, who was a student at Turner Job Corps. The teenager disappeared in late September after she was told TJC officials had put him on a bus bound for Augusta.

Officials at TJC said that her son, Chad Andrew Edwards, 16, was dropped off Sept. 29 at the bus station in Albany for a trip to Augusta after he was expelled from the school, Faye Edwards said Monday night.

The teen is listed on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as an “endangered runaway.” Faye Edwards said the response she received from officials at Turner Job Corps and the Albany Police Department was that Chad Edwards had run away and not called his family.

But that isn’t like her son, Faye Edwards said.

Chad Edwards called his family from the bus stop as soon as he arrived in Albany and again when reached the TJC facility, she said. She said she later talked to him on Sept. 27 when school officials accused Chad Edwards of skipping classes. The charges were false and Turner Job Corps officials subsequently apologized, she said.

TJC spokeswoman Courtenay Thomas said Monday it was illegal for her to release any information about a current or former student of the school. She said she was preparing a statement, but it was not available by press time Monday night.

Albany Police Department spokesman Lt. Kenn Singleton said from his home late Monday night that he did not know how the case was progressing. A person in the investigations office at the police department said a reporter would have to call back this morning to find out the status of the case.

Faye Edwards said she hasn’t spoken to her son since Sept. 27, and said the silence is out of character for the teen.

Chad Edwards was expelled from a military school in Augusta after he broke into an official’s office and stole another cadet’s money, which prompted his family to send him to TJC, Faye Edwards said.

“He was really remorseful about screwing up at Fort Stewart and he was excited about having a second chance,” Faye Edwards said Monday. “That was Thursday, Sept. 27 (when she talked to her son). It was the last time I’ve heard my son’s voice.

“My son’s safety is what I’m concerned with, and we want questions answered. I know that he’s not a runaway like they want me to believe.”

Faye Edwards said that her son has kept in constant touch with his family and was so frightened about traveling that she had to make sure he sat near the bus driver.

She said TJC officials have told her repeatedly that they saw him get onto a bus bound for Augusta. But Greyhound Bus Line representatives — the bus line that transports students into and out of the school — have told Faye Edwards that there was no ticket purchased on behalf of her Chad Edwards, she said.

The passenger’s name must be listed on the ticket, and would therefore show up in their system, she said.

Chad Edwards is described as a 5-foot-8 white male who weighs about 175 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts can call police at (229) 431-3288 or contact Chad Edwards’ parents at the Hilton Garden Inn.

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