Sunday, November 23, 1997
Runaway reunited with family
By TANYA EISERER / Abilene Reporter-News
Fifteen-year-old Jackson Fulham, who ran away from home nearly
two months ago, was reunited with his family Saturday.
His mother, Rolanda Fulham, called it an "answer to prayer"
that her son, an Abilene High School sophomore, had been living
with a family in Wyoming during that time.
"Since the first moment this happened, our prayer has
been that Jackson would find somebody who would take care of him,
and he would find a safe place to stay," Mrs. Fulham said
through a friend. "I really feel like this family was the
answer to our prayers because they kept Jackson safe, gave him
food and a place to stay."
Mrs. Fulham received a call at 11 p.m. Friday, reporting that
Jackson had been found. She was on an airplane early Saturday
morning bound for Cheyenne where she was reunited with Jackson
and met Alice and Larry Butrick, the older couple he lived with
on a ranch near Cheyenne.
Mother and son were back in Abilene by 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
His father, Paul, was due back late Saturday from Canada where
he had been searching for Jackson.
Celia Davis, a family friend, said the Fulhams greatly appreciated
the support they had received from the Abilene police and the
entire community.
"Right now, everybody's so happy," Davis said. "His
friends are here en masse, and they're all happy."
She added that Jackson "had his adventure and was really
ready to come home."
"But he's a teen-ager, and he didn't have the nerve to
call," Davis said.
nightmare
The Fulhams' nightmare began on Oct. 2 when Jackson didn't
show up for a surprise birthday party for a close friend.
Jackson left Abilene with between $600 and $800 in cash and
a few clothes. A shotgun was also missing from the house.
His 1983 Chevrolet pickup was spotted by a sheriff's deputy
outside Cheyenne on the night of Oct. 8. A report came in that
the vehicle's license plate had been recorded at a border crossing
on Oct. 10, leading his parents to believe he was in Canada. That
report was apparently false, Davis said.
In an earlier story in the <I>Reporter-News<I>,
his parents said they had no advance warning -- no threats that
Jackson would run away and that no note was left behind.
His parents said they believed he may have became depressed
when a rapid growth spurt -- six inches in eight months -- led
to problems in sports at which he once exceled.
Usually a good student, Jackson had also failed a subject and
then had a falling out with his girlfriend. And, his parents said,
maybe he just wanted to become a cowboy or a hunting guide. No
matter the reason, his parents wanted him back home.
Neighbors put yellow ribbons in their trees, and kept their
porch lights on as welcoming beacons.
Both parents took time off work to distribute leaflets with
their son's picture on them, and Mr. Fulham headed to Canada to
broaden the search.
"They did just what any parent would do," Davis said.
"You would go anywhere, do anything."
A nice boy
In the meantime, Jackson had been taken in by the Butricks
who live in a log cabin home on a ranch about 25 miles outside
of Cheyenne.
"We're a little embarrassed that we didn't realize he
was a runaway," said Alice Butrick, a bank employee. "He
is such a nice boy."
Matthew, their 24-year-old son, had met Jackson while working
at a local gas station in early October. Jackson apparently had
been stranded in Cheyenne when his truck broke down.
"Jackson was coming in everyday," she said. "He
indicated he didn't have a place to stay. (Matthew) didn't want
to see him not have a place to stay so he brought him home."
Mrs. Butrick said Jackson helped out around the house and went
hunting with the men.
"It wasn't any problem having him here," she said.
The Butricks knew Jackson was from Texas. He told them he was
18.
"He said he had a falling out with his family and he didn't
want to call them," Mrs. Butrick said. "We respected
his feelings and didn't push him. I'm still amazed that he was
only 15 years old. He's pretty mature for his age."
The Butricks discovered Jackson was a runaway when their daughter
and her husband saw his picture on the television news, Mrs. Butrick
said.
"They had met him," she said. "They were just
totally amazed."
The Butricks' daughter called the toll-free number set up by
the Fulhams and called her parents to tell them. Laramie County
sheriff's deputies picked him up about two hours later.
"He was in bed asleep," Mrs. Butrick said. "He
was a little surprised but grateful to be going home."
About 800 children run away from Abilene each year, and a large
majority are found within a few days, said Abilene police Detective
Lee Reed of the missing persons unit.
"We as a police department are concerned about all our
missing children," Reed said. "We're tickled when any
of our children are found alive and well because any time a child
runs off there's always a danger they'll meet with foul play."
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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