Family searching for missing teen girl and boyfriend, last seen Friday
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- The family of Janessa Boney, right, is asking for help locating the 15-year-old Ogden girl and her boyfriend, Andrew Shutt, 19.
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- Missing teenager Janessa Boney and her boyfriend, Andrew Shutt, are suspected to be traveling in a gold or brown Chevy Tahoe like the one pictured here.
OGDEN — Brittany Pilcher would do just about anything to get her teenage daughter home safe and sound.
Janessa Boney, 15, has been missing since early Friday morning, Pilcher said, after she went on the run with her boyfriend, 19-year-old Andrew Shutt of Bountiful.
“It’s just nerve-wracking,” Pilcher said Wednesday. “Still trying everything I can possibly do before something bad happens.”
Janessa was last seen around 3:30 a.m. Friday at the home of Pilcher’s sister in Plain City, when she left in a vehicle presumably driven by Shutt. The case is currently being treated as a runaway instead of a missing person.
“It appears to be consensual,” Lt. Jason Vanderwarf of the Ogden Police Department said of the circumstances surrounding Janessa’s departure. “She left on her own by herself,” he said, adding police have “no reason to believe she left under duress.”
That’s been little comfort to family, friends and supporters, who created a Facebook group titled “Find Janessa Boney” to share news and tips about the teen’s disappearance.
Pilcher said texts between Janessa and Shutt indicated they may pose a danger to themselves, with the girl reportedly stating she “didn’t want to be alive” and Shutt allegedly responding that he would be willing to shoot her and then himself.
Those fears have been exacerbated by Shutt’s criminal history. He has been out on bond following his January arrest after a high-speed police chase in Morgan County. He’s facing charges in 2nd District Court that include two felonies — possession of a firearm by a restricted person and failure to stop for officers — and three misdemeanors — possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and reckless driving.
From what the family has been able to piece together, the young couple stopped in Fillmore for gas and food later on Friday and by the evening were in Hurricane, based on a ping of Shutt’s cellphone. But they’ve heard little since.
“They haven’t turned on any kind of tracking,” Pilcher said, and their social media accounts have been quiet.
But “four or five” sightings have come in from parts of Southern Utah, she said, so that is where the pair is believed to currently be — though she has heard through Janessa’s friends that they may have been bound for another state like Colorado or California.
“It’s not like anyone’s in trouble,” Pilcher said. “They just need to come home.”
Janessa is described as 5-foot-3-inches and weighing around 115 pounds. She may be wearing a black tank top or crop top with skeletons on it, black sweat pants and black-and-white Converse shoes. She also left home with a beige or brown hoodie. Her right nostril and upper lip are pierced, and she has a smiley face tattoo on her ankle.
Shutt is approximately 5-foot-11 and 125 pounds, with nose and ear piercings and a rose tattoo on his right forearm. He may be dressed in black clothing and shoes.
They are suspected to be traveling in a gold or brown Chevy Tahoe with temporary car tags and a sticker in the back window of a grenade with the words “Ford Repair Kit.”
Anyone with information about their whereabouts are asked to call 911 or Ogden police at 801-395-8221 in reference to case number 23G15821.