The love Liz Christensen has for her brother Tyler can't be contained, nor can the pain she has felt since he went missing five weeks ago.
"It's hard to not know if he's still alive, if he's okay, if he's hurt," she says, choking back tears. "Just the uncertainty is really hard to deal with."
Tyler told his parents he was going to a church function the night of April 19th, but apparently walked in the opposite direction.
He was spotted later that night on the Edmonds ferry to Kingston. A driver picked him up hitchhiking toward Shelton. That's where his backpack was found two weeks ago with a couple emergency blankets, some food and clothes.
Police and volunteers searched the area, but found no further sign of the boy.
“He told the person who picked him up he was thinking about going hiking on the Olympics,” says Liz. "Initially, finding the backpack, we were hopeful we'd find him. When there was no sign of him, it becomes a very hard thing to think about."
Tyler’s family says the disappearance blindsided them. They say he showed absolutely no signs of being upset or distraught.
Police believe Tyler to be a runaway. That has lessened the urgency for authorities to find him, according to Liz. She adds, even if Tyler left on his own, that doesn't mean he is safe.
To Liz, Tyler isn’t a runaway; he's her 16-year-old brother, and he's missing.
“We still don't know if he's OK. We're not any less worried than if he had been abducted,” she said.
For now, Liz and her family keep putting up missing person posters, hoping someone will spot Tyler.
He turns 17 next week, and the Christensens can think of no greater gift than to be a whole family once again.
“If Tyler sees this, we want him to know we love him, we miss him and we just want him to come home,” says Liz.
The family is offering a reward for information leading to Tyler's whereabouts. For more information click here.
