Saturday, October 27, 2012

13 Year Old Joshua Gerson Missing

PORT ANGELES — Clallam County sheriff's deputies are on the lookout for a 13-year-old Port Angeles boy missing for three weeks and are seeking the public's help in finding him.

Joshua Gershon was reported by his stepfather, Otto Gershon, as having run away from his home in east Port Angeles on Oct. 3, Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron said Tuesday.

Joshua, who has run away before, was last seen east of Port Angeles wearing blue jeans, a dark blue coat and tennis shoes, the Sheriff's Office said. 

He is about 5 feet tall, weighs 90 pounds and has short brown hair and blue eyes.

Deputies are encouraging anyone with information on Joshua's whereabouts or anyone who thinks he or she might have seen him to call Clallam County sheriff's dispatch at 360-417-2459.

Cameron said the last firm report of Joshua was a sighting close to his house a day or two after Oct. 3.

A sheriff's deputy received a tip of a child resembling Joshua at the Port Angeles Albertsons supermarket Monday night, Cameron said, though the child was gone before deputies arrived. 

On Tuesday, Otto Gershon said Joshua's biological parents died within three years of each other­ — his father in 2004 and mother in 2007 — and said Joshua is still dealing with issues surrounding their deaths.

Although Joshua was reported as a runaway Oct. 3, Cameron said the Sheriff's Office does not publicize all reports of runaway children they receive.

“We get them fairly often,” Cameron said.

Runaway-child cases are not typically passed from the deputy who took the report to a detective until 30 days have elapsed, Cameron said.

He described the lack of leads regarding Joshua's whereabouts since Oct. 3 as “unusual.”

“We're obviously very concerned,” he said.

Joshua's name has been entered into a national law enforcement database so police departments across the country will know that he has been reported as a runaway if they come across a child matching his description, Cameron said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Joshua's name had not yet been entered into the database of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, although Cameron said the sheriff's department had shared Gershon's information with the organization.

No Amber Alert has been issued for Joshua, Cameron said, since they are specifically for children thought to have been forcibly abducted and who have been missing for fewer than four hours.

Cameron said, however, that he knows that Joshua's family members are actively searching for him and have begun distributing fliers.

Gershon said Joshua has run away three times within the past year but always for only a night or two.

Additionally, Gershon said other members of Joshua's home-school community typically saw Joshua once or twice the last several times he ran away, though no such sightings have occurred this time. 

Joshua, a first-chair flautist in the Northwinds Homeschool Band in Port Angeles, is taking high-school-level lessons, Gershon said.

Gershon said he fears for his stepson's safety, and what will happen if Joshua continues to run away.

He's going to lose everything he has worked for and everything he has loved,” Gershon said. 

Running away will make his life more difficult.

Gershon could not guess where Joshua might be but said the last time he ran away, police found him sleeping in a hotel lobby.

Joshua did not return home of his own accord whenever he ran away, Gershon said.

Asked what he might say to bring Joshua back, Gershon replied:

That I love him, and that I understand the struggles he's going through.

“He knows his dad is here to help.”


30 comments:

John Mc Gowan said...

Gershon said he fears for his stepson's safety, and what will happen if Joshua continues to run away.

“He's going to lose everything he has worked for and everything he has loved,” Gershon said.

Everything he has LOVED,Past tense,does he believe he is not coming back or does he know he isnt coming back.

Asked what he might say to bring Joshua back, Gershon replied:

“That I love him, and that I understand the struggles he's going through.”

"That" used twice,sensitive and a unessary word.Take the word "That" out and it reads the same and sounds more genuine

The shortest sentence is the best.

"I Love him and i understand"

“He knows his dad is here to help.”

He doesnt mention his name..

John Mc Gowan said...

He's going to lose everything he has worked for and everything he has loved,” Gershon said.

Past tense ref again..,

Should that be "he will loose everything he is working for and everything he loves Present tense..



“Running away will make his life more difficult.

Very strange sentence..

John Mc Gowan said...

Anon 10-01.

I didnt mention he had anything to do with his dissapearance, its the odd language he uses given the circumstances..

John Mc Gowan said...

Also if what i have written is wrong then i will accept it.
Its the only way i will learn..

For me to be ignorant in not accepting constructive negative feed back then i should give up now..

Anonymous said...

"That" = distancing language.

Anonymous said...

Past tense language used. Does the step-dad have knowledge that the boy is dead? Have the police given him some type of indication that the boy is dead? Just as Misty Croslin used padt tense verbage when speaking of Haleigh Cummings, past tense verb usage is not natural after only such a short period of time. Sensitivity indicated.

John Mc Gowan said...

Gershon could not guess where Joshua might be but said the last time he ran away, police found him sleeping in a hotel lobby.

Wouldnt sleeping in a hotel lobby be a guess given thats were he was the last time he was found.

We can all guess we may not be right but we can guess..

IE. were are my keys have you seen them.

They may be in the fruit bowl.

That may be wrong but its a guess.


CEC said...

Is there a step-mom, or just the step-dad? I realize that Otto Gershon is not the boy's biological dad, but he refers to himself as Joshua's dad, and they share the same last name. Wouldn't that make him the adoptive father, even if he had been married to the boy's bio mom (not sure he was married dto her)? Just trying to understand the background.

Lis said...

I'm so glad you are covering this case! It has barely been covered in the local media, I think it was 3 weeks before they even carried the story at all.

He doesn't look like the typical troubled youth who runs away.

News reports say that he was seen by one person after the time when he is supposed to have run away, but they have no information on who this person is or how reliable the sighting is.

Anonymous said...

Looking at the back and forth between John and ANon, I see both your points. Although, I don't think the step dad has anything to do with the boy missing, or making him run away, (maybe they argued or he put in place rules the boy didn't like which caused him to bounce). The kid is obviously a pain in the ass, so to speak. He is running away constantly and is need of help before he gets himself in trouble. That's what the step father means. At least that's the way I interpret it. Running away would def cause any problems to become worse, he is bait for many many bad people out there and it's a scary world for a normal kid, let alone a kid with an unstable past. I'm hoping he's safe, and isn't being preyed upon by any monsters out there.

Lis said...

“He knows his dad is here to help.”

It's funny he refers to himself in third person. Also, he is not his dad.

Lis said...

Anon-
"Ppl here are awfully quick to take the slightest little word they thought should have been spoken some other way, or eliminated, and make a big deal out of it when this is just the way that particular person normally speak; judging and pointing the finger of guilt at that person. "

We are practicing statement analysis, anon. Us commenters are learning, we are not professionals. Noting indicators in a statement is not the same as pointing a finger of guilt.

Anonymous said...

They both have the same last name...so I'm guessing that the step dad has been in life for quite some time, or adopted him? Anyone know? TIA

Lis said...

Anonymous said...

Example of speaking in past tense that is totally erroneous if past tense statement analysis is used in this particular incident:

In a posh NYC apartment, two of the three children of Kevin Krim & his wife Marina have been murdered by their Nanny.

The paternal grandmother Mrs. Krim makes a statement and says: "My son WAS a very good father. If there's anything about him I was most proud of it was that he WAS a good father".
---
Two of the children he was a father to are dead, anon. Therefore, he WAS a good father, is a statement that makes sense.

Lis said...

GOOD NEWS:
-----
Missing PA youth found

October 27th, 2012 - 1:00am

(Port Angeles) -- A Port Angeles boy missing for more than three weeks has been found safe.

13-year-old Joshua Gershon was found Friday night at the Oasis Coffee House in Bremerton. That is a church-sponsored outreach center for teens.

Bremerton police delivered Gershon to a Clallam County sheriff's deputy who transported him to the county's youth crisis resource center in Port Angeles.

Gershon had not been seen by his family since he apparently ran away from their home October 3rd.

The Clallam County sheriff's office has put out a bulletin asking for the public's helping in trying to locate the boy, who has run away before.

Both of Joshua's biological parents have died in the past few years and his step-father, Otto, says Joshua is dealing with inner struggles related to the loss of his parents.
----------------
Port Angeles is on the north end of the Olympic Peninsula, NW of Seattle.

Anonymous said...

Anon @11:32am, Port Angeles is in Washington. I live in Washington and this is the first I've heard of Joshua.

Anonymous said...

Glad is was found. But I'm thinking he needs to get some serious help with the losses he's had so young in his life. My heart goes out to the kid and the family around him.

John Mc Gowan said...

Anonymous said...
Example of speaking in past tense that is totally erroneous if past tense statement analysis is used in this particular incident:

In a posh NYC apartment, two of the three children of Kevin Krim & his wife Marina have been murdered by their Nanny.

The paternal grandmother Mrs. Krim makes a statement and says: "My son WAS a very good father. If there's anything about him I was most proud of it was that he WAS a good father".

Kevin Krim is NOT deceased although it could be "analyized" that he is and his mother is speaking in the past tense, referring to her son as though he were dead. The fact remains, Kevin is still a good father because one of his children is still living and so is he.

Proof that statement analysis does not ALWAYS apply when one appears to be speaking in the past tense.

The paternal grandmother Mrs. Krim makes a statement and says: "My son WAS a very good father. If there's anything about him I was most proud of it was that he WAS a good father"

You could also look at it and say that the father WAS a good dad but isnt now.His mother in some way may silently blame him for what has happened,therfore she says he was a good dad,but not anymore..

Anonymous said...

john said...
He's going to lose everything he has worked for and everything he has loved,” Gershon said.

Past tense ref again..,

Should that be "he will loose everything he is working for and everything he loves Present tense..


In reference to your question, John:
"He has worked" and "he has loved" are not past tense. They are the present perfect.
Also, "he will loose" (sic) would be future, not present.

Take it from an English teacher. :-)

Anonymous said...

Could "has loved" be a reference to him not loving those things so much anymore ? The step-Dad is concerned he will loose them and later regret it? Since that is the only red flag I wonder if it could mean something less ominous.

Anna Asher

Notamuser said...

Glad Joshua was found.

@anon 7:38, thank you for pointing out present perfect tense. I was going to do so.

Also I commonly use "that" in my own speech, where it is appropriate but COULD be dropped & others may drop it. As I almost always do not drop "that" in my speech, it wouldn't necessarily be distancing would it? This may or may not be true of the stepfather. I believe this is why Peter teaches about the need to establish a baseline for each subject.

John Mc Gowan said...

As i stated above if i am wrong i will accept it,its the only way i will learn.
Given that this is an SA blog i wouldv liked to have heared Peters imput,unfortunately he is a busy man..

The words he uses suggest to me that he is holding something back,buy hay im just a rookie..

Anonymous said...

John, I am a rookie, too.
We are all learning here.
Your attitude speaks well for you.

John Mc Gowan said...

Thanks Anon 12-15, i do try to see all sides, so i can be objective :)

Anonymous said...

I think John that your polite constructive comments to others whether in agreement with or not, is a testament to your character too. I applaud you.

Tania Cadogan said...

I wonder how many of us who browse these blogs to keep up to date on news and never comment and those who browse and comment now pay more attention to what they say and write?

I know i do.

When i am writing emails or commenting on forums i think about what i am trying to say and what points i want to get across.

Order is important, i take ownership of what i am saying and i also think more when i am explaining something.
People unfamilair with SA will still subconsciously use it when listening, they may not always know why somthing is off, just that it is off.

I find it has helped a lot when i am working online, it is amazing how what allegedly happened can change between it happening and me being called especially if i was lurking when it happened.
It is also amazing how much the pita can leak when they deny deny deny. Dropping of pronouns is common in chat rooms as are vbonics ( LOL,ROFL etc)i just watch and see where they pop up and disappear. Everyone has their own typing style which is why all the cheaters and players always get outted. they may use certain words or emoticons, greet or leave the rooms a certain way. After a while i and my compatriots have gotten to recognise who is who even when they change name.

I wonder if those who study handwriting are also using SA subconsciously. Each gender will use particular words more than the otherand it is these words which trigger the 'expert'
It used to be that handwritng styles were often easy to sex, these days there seems to be less and less joined up writing rather it is more often printed (and thus easier to read come revision) how will handwriting experts work when most writings will be via digital media.
Nowadays a lot of school work is done online or on pcs/laptops, the skills of handwriting will lessen and eventually be only on say cards, postcards and receipts.

John Mc Gowan said...

Excellant expananation hobs..

Tania Cadogan said...

john said...
Excellant expananation hobs..


Ta

~Curtsies~

Don't just stand there snickering, help me up or i'll bite yer ankles.

OG said...

This is an interesting site. I just came upon it. Showing respect for what you are attempting, allow me to give you a whole lot more information about myself and about my own observations of the quotations being analyzed here.

First, I am Joshua's adoptive father. It was a journalistic error that I was listed as his step father. I am also his "Dad." If I were not, then Joshua would not have a dad at all, which would not be a very desirable trait for a boy his age or especially with his background.

Joshua's mother, my beloved wife, bless her memory, was already with stage 4 cancer when I married her. I had been as a dad to the boys before I married her, and they had begun calling me such on their own accord. (I knew them since Joshua was two.) Yet, it was right and necessary to make the matter official with hopes that all would turn out okay. In the end, it is okay (I speak in part by faith), but not as we had hoped.

Second, I would like to commend Anonymous, who wrote on 10/27 at 1:38 PM. Rather than immediately getting bogged down in the details of the grammar I used, Anon looked at the context of the circumstances, the bigger picture. In doing such an analysis of the details, I think it is best if one is at least first careful to be on the right page. Success and accuracy will be much more likely.

In observing my statements and my grammar in retrospect, I do have the advantage of observing my emotions and inner thoughts. However, some of the nuances that our own words convey is still a bit of a mystery. That said, let me share my own thoughts.

At 7:38 PM the Anonymous English teacher pointed out that "everything he has worked for and everything he has loved" is present perfect, not past tense. That is significant, I think. In my intended meaning, I am indicating that Joshua may still love them, but the fact that he had run away from them and had forsaken the job of maintaining them suggested that it was a changing picture in his own soul. In running away and abandoning what he once loved most, his "love" for something else (if one can put it that way) was obviously challenging his love for these former things. What was driving him to run was yet unknown at the time. However, I did know that he had loved certain things up to that point and may continue to do so. Yet I was willing to acknowledge that his goals may have been in a state of change. (Credit also to Anna Asher at 7:55 PM)

My using the word "that" has two purposes, I think. One has to do with the way the question was presented to me, or at least how I interpreted it. In my answer, I was not placing myself as in front of a television screen that Joshua would be watching, so that I was speaking directly to him saying, "I love you." Rather, I was answering a conceptual question. i.e. "What would I say? I would tell him that I loved him." However, my use of "that" may also indicate that I was removing myself emotionally some, since I was speaking in the public arena with a very personal, painful, and emotional issue. I remember that I was definitely guarded and uncomfortable about being emotionally transparent, even though I was at any moment close to tears.

OG said...

(cont...)

That I did not use Joshua's name may indicate some of that emotional distance/self-protection, though I am not sure about that. We were obviously talking about Joshua and there were no other "him's" whereby we could get confused.

The statement, "Running away will make his life more difficult," may seem like a strange sentence unless one steps into my shoes, that is, into the shoes of a father who deeply loves and cares for the son who was on a path of destroying much of what was valuable to him. It was very painful for me to even think of Joshua losing so much more after having already lost so much in his life. In saying the said statement, I foresaw what his running would inevitably accomplish in his life (and it has) and my insides just groaned in pain on his behalf. Unfortunately, sometimes a son just needs to learn the hard way. However, that is not what, at least emotionally, a loving father wants for his son, even if he may be willing to let it happen.

As far as not being able to guess where Joshua was: the truth is, I had rolled every guess over and over in my mind many, many times. I had checked out places; I had placed calls; I had searched out options and everything that I had tried to guess came up with zero leads. Joshua had never taken the bus before, to anywhere, let alone to another county. I simply did not dream he would be so resourceful. The truth is, he was intentionally out of our community's view (even outside the local newspaper's broader distribution) so that there would be no leads. It is not that I could not guess, it was just that all of my guesses had been exhausted. I was dumbfounded.

So for all of you seeking to learn SA, maybe this feedback will help in your studies. In any case, I do appreciate that none of you concluded bad things, even if you were inclined to be lead by "little indicators" in that direction. Even after much study, wisdom teaches us to hold onto our personal conclusions lightly.

Joshua, by the way, is safe and is working through his "baggage." It is a fundamental part of life for all of us, isn't it?