Kayleigh Beasley has been missing since Feb. 19. Police say the red in her hair is not as bold as in this photo. Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook
BOWDOINHAM — The mother of 14-year-old Kayleigh Beasley, a Bowdoinham girl who has been missing for 10 days, said she is afraid her daughter may be in danger.
Britney Bodinet said Monday that she doesn’t know why Beasley is missing and is at a loss as to where she went.
“As a parent, it’s terrifying,” Bodinet said. “We all love her and we miss her and we want her to come home.”
Bodinet said Beasley was with her biological father’s girlfriend the day she went missing. Bodinet said the two had gone to Walmart in Brunswick on Feb. 19. According to the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation into Beasley’s disappearance, Beasley walked away from the Walmart parking lot near Cook’s Corner in Brunswick around 5:30 p.m.
Security footage shows Beasley walking in the parking lot of a nearby McDonald’s that day. Chief Deputy Brett Strout said she may have got into a car at that time because she isn’t seen on video after that.
Strout said video footage shows Beasley in Walmart on Feb. 19 holding a cell phone but Beasley didn’t have her own cell phone. Police can’t trace a cell or call Beasley because she doesn’t have a phone that belongs to her, Strout said. Beasley’s social media accounts have been inactive as well, Strout said.
There have been sightings of Beasley reported in Portland, Bath and Lewiston, Strout said. The sheriff’s office has investigated those sightings but hasn’t been able to determine whether they were legitimate.
Investigators continue to talk to Beasley’s friends and family to try to determine where she is, Strout said.
By Feb. 25, the sheriff’s office had turned to the U.S. Marshal’s Service for help in the search.
In addition, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created a missing person’s poster and has assigned a caseworker to Beasley’s case, Strout said. The organization is the nation’s reporting center for all issues related to the prevention of and recovery from child victimization.
No Amber Alert was issued for Beasley, because this case doesn’t meet the criteria, according to Strout. The nation-wide alerts, broadcast over TV, radio, state transportation signs, Internet and mobile devices, are issued in cases where police believe a child has been abducted or is in danger of serious injury or death.
“Right now this is a juvenile that walked away on her own accord and we’re just trying to find her as a missing person,” Strout said.
Police released this photo on Friday, Feb. 26 of Kayleigh Beasley walking into Walmart on the night of her disappearance. Courtesy of Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office
According to Bodinet, Beasley was a patient at Northern Light Acadia Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Bangor from shortly after Dec. 25 until about a week before she went missing Feb. 19.
Bodinet said Beasley has mental illness, but Beasley isn’t taking her medication. Bodinet said she doesn’t believe her daughter would harm herself, but that she may have difficulty making good decisions.
“She might agree to something and not understand what she’s agreeing to,” Bodinet said.
“I’m very concerned,” Bodinet said. “I feel like she could potentially be in danger because this is not Kayleigh, taking off for a long period of time with no sightings; no contact with friends.”
Beasley is described as 4-foot, 10 inches tall with short black hair, hazel eyes and weighing 120 pounds. Police ask that if anyone who has seen her to call (207) 443-9711.
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