PALMER TWP., Pa. — A 14-year-old Palmer Township girl who went missing from her home on Jan. 10 has been classified as a runaway.
That determination was announced in a news release from Northampton County District Attorney Stephen G. Baratta on Tuesday afternoon.
Enci “Aubrey” Wu was last seen on Jan. 11 in the vicinity of MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township, where she was seeking transportation and/or funds from strangers in order to leave Lehigh County, according to the release.
No other reports regarding Wu’s whereabouts have been confirmed.
“At this point, we are cautiously optimistic that this matter will remain a noncriminal investigation, as there has been no evidence uncovered that suggests otherwise."Stephen G. Baratta, Northampton County District Attorney
A review of a surveillance camera showed the girl climbing out of her bedroom window on Jan. 10, while her parents were asleep.
Since receiving a report of her presence near MacArthur Road, Palmer Township Police Department has been actively searching for Wu and the circumstances why she has gone missing.
“At this point, we are cautiously optimistic that this matter will remain a noncriminal investigation, as there has been no evidence uncovered that suggests otherwise,” according to the news release.
“Further, we also note that there is inaccurate information spreading online regarding the disappearance of Enci Wu, and would like to ensure the public that every measure is being taken to locate Ms. Wu and return her to her parents.”
Return not sure
The investigation into Wu's whereabouts continues, the news release said.
As part of this investigation, Palmer Township Police are getting additional support from the FBI, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Task Force, State Police-Bethlehem, Pennsylvania State Police Intelligence Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Investigators also have enlisted technological assistance from various non-law enforcement agencies to track and monitor social media sites.
On Monday night, Wu’s stepfather, John Gehrmann, addressed the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners regarding the girl’s disappearance.
“We want to make sure the citizens and leaders of Whitehall know about her, a 14-year-old girl who went missing in this community.”Enci Wu’s stepfather, John Gehrmann
“Our daughter has been missing for 59 days,” Gehrmann said, with his wife, Jade, the girl’s biological mother, seated behind him. “We want to call it an abduction. “
Gehrmann told the commissioners that on Jan. 10, the girl “encountered” a person in Whitehall who took her out of Pennsylvania and to New Jersey to a dog show.
“We want to make sure the citizens and leaders of Whitehall know about her, a 14-year-old girl who went missing in this community,” Gehrmann said.
Wu's disappearance will be featured on NBC-TV's "Dateline: Missing in America," 9 p.m. Friday, March 14.
A segment on her disappearance also aired on iHeart Radio's "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" late February.
On the Grace show, it was revealed that Just over six months after Enci got her own cellphone, her parents discovered a second, older iPhone hidden in her room. When confronted, the girl admitted she convinced a boy at school to give it to her, and he told his parents he lost it.
Enci paid for a new iCloud account to use on the phone, bypassing both her parents’ blocks and rules on when she can use a phone. She was extremely upset when her parents took both phones away and grounded her.
On Jan. 10, Palmer Township Police visited the girl's home and asked her parents to wake her up for a welfare check.
Officers said Enci's boyfriend, a boy her parents didn't know, begged his own parents to call police, as he hadn’t heard from her in more than 24 hours. Gehrmann called s upstairs for the girl several times, but received no answer.
The family’s security cameras revealed Enci crawled out her bedroom window, crept across the roof, shimmied down a grate, and disappeared into a back alley behind their home more than three hours earlier.
A $7,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Wu’s return.
Anyone who believes they have information on the girl’s whereabouts are asked to immediately call Palmer Township Police at 610-759-2200 or dial 911 if immediate response is needed.
