UPDATE: Two More Escape Pierceton Woods
Police were called to the area of SR 13 and U.S. 30 shortly after 10 a.m. today near Pierceton where it was reported two male juveniles have run away from Pierceton Woods.
Police were driving around the area and on CR 150 North but were not able to locate the boys. We are now told by police that the boys returned to the facility on their own.
But escapes and walk aways from Pierceton Woods are not new. On Dec. 9, Dakota Kimbler, 17, of Rome City, escaped the center and hid in the back seat of a vehicle at nearby Paragon Medical. When the owner of the vehicle was driving home from work early that morning, Kimbler pulled a gun, shooting the man in the chest.
Kimbler has been charged with attempted murder in Whitley County.
Less than two weeks later, Pierceton resident Rick Wagner went before the Kosciusko County Commissioners asking that the facility be shut down or properly licensed to operate. “We were told no violent juveniles would be here, but there is,” he said. “We want it closed or properly licensed to operate.”
Pierceton Woods is privately operated by Lifeline Youth and Family Services.