Kristi Severs is a local mother in tears.

Severs is asking for help in finding her 13-year-old daughter, Beth, who ran away from home Wednesday morning and hasn’t been heard from since.

Beth stands 5 foot-6 and has sandy brown/auburn hair. 

She was last seen by her family around 7 a.m. Wednesday when she left the front door of her home just south of Seneca at 18345 Hwy. 43 and walked up the gravel driveway to board the school bus for summer classes at Seneca Middle School.

And that’s where Severs thought her daughter was. But at around 10:30 a.m. she received a call from the mother of Beth’s 16-year-old boyfriend, Alex Jeffers. Alex, his mother  said, had left a runaway note and took her car.

Severs called the school to ask Beth if she knew where Alex was, but was told that Beth wasn’t there. She never even got on the bus.

Her heart sank.

A quick scan of her daughter’s room confirmed what Severs already suspected: Beth had run away with Alex, leaving a note behind that read: “Sorry I had to go, but you can’t stop love.”

Though the young couple saw each other at church, Severs had forbidden Beth to actually date until she turned 16.

Beth didn’t take anything with her, leaving behind all of the clothes and her purse.

Less than an hour after the note was discovered, Alex’s car was found deserted about 10 miles away in Racine, parked near the low water bridge on CC Highway.

But the runaway couple were nowhere around.

Severs said she contacted the Newton County Sheriff’s Department, but as of Thursday afternoon, no clues had turned up as to where Beth and Alex were or were going.

“Nobody has any idea where they are,” Severs said. “His parents don’t know, I don’t know, and the friends aren’t talking.”

Alex reportedly has grandparents in both Neosho and Joplin, but Severs said they haven’t seen or heard from their grandson since he ran away with her daughter.

Severs said Beth never gave any kind of indication she was planning on leaving, but described her personality as “quiet and tomboyish.”

“She’s not a girly-girl,” Severs said. “She likes going to the creek and being outdoors in nature.”

Severs is asking the community to “keep an eye out” for her daughter and if anyone sees her to please call 825-9199 or the Sheriff’s Department at 451-4242.

Asked what message she would send to her daughter if she could, Severs began to cry.

“I just wish she’d call,” Severs said, her voice breaking.

MISSING CHILD

Beth, 13, is described as standing 6 foot, five inches tall and has sandy brown/auburn hair. She was last seen Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. just south of Seneca near Highway 43 and is suspected to be with her 16-year-old boyfriend, Alex Jeffers.

If anyone has information as to her whereabouts please call Beth’s mother at 825-9199 or the Newton County Sheriff’s Department at 451-4242.