Sixteen-year-old Maverick Wilton-Morgret left his dad’s house on Dec. 2, 2020, saying on his way out the door, “I’ll be right back.”
His family hasn’t seen or heard from him since.
“It’s just so scary because you don’t know,” said Maverick’s mother Amy Morgret. “At first, I felt bad for even sleeping … We were on the street putting flyers everywhere.”
Morgret lives just a block from Maverick’s father’s house at 1260 W. Fourth St., in Williamsport. She says it was common for her son to decide which parent to stay with, and the pair was happy to let him choose.
Since Maverick went missing, flyers and social media campaigns have been circulated across the country and around the globe, with flyers seen posted as far as California and social media posts in Scotland and England. To date, while many possible sightings have been sent to the family or the police, none have proved to be valid.
The Williamsport Bureau of Police continues to work on Maverick’s case, according to Capt. Justin Snyder. However, he added sightings have been corroborated yet.
The incident is still being treated as a missing person case, Snyder said. The police department also is coordinating with neighboring law enforcement departments throughout the region.
For his family and close friends, the past month has been hell. While the days are filled with uncertainty, Morgret doesn’t believe her son would have willingly run away. A troubled youth, he struggled with mental health and bullying in school. Eventually Maverick was placed on probation with the county Juvenile Probation Office and had just returned home from a treatment facility a month before he went missing.
However, Morgret and close family friend Karen Erdely, who lives with them, say Maverick was doing well during that last month and he wasn’t in trouble with the county’s Juvenile Probation Office. He takes medication for his mental health struggles and would be unlikely to leave for a long period of time without it.
Maverick’s medication, clothes and other belongings were left behind. Morgret also said she found out after he went missing that Maverick may have been suicidal.
In 2020, 97 children went missing in Pennsylvania, including 13 in December, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The ages of the children reported missing in December ranged from 14 to 17.
Morgret and Erdley are determined to continue looking for Maverick. The pair, as well as many other friends and family, already have searched most of the county, Morgret said.
“I just want to know he’s OK,” Morgret said.
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