Teens leave residential treatment facility in Farmington
SAN JUAN COUNTY, N.M. — “We haven’t heard anything. I’ve talked to friends, girlfriends. Nobody’s heard anything, which is what they’re telling me. I’ve put flyers everywhere around Albuquerque, still haven’t heard anything,” said Josephine Brown De Amustegui, Joseph Robinson’s grandma.
De Amusategi has been looking for her grandson, Joseph Robinson, for almost two weeks now.
“It’s scary. I don’t know where to go, I would look. I’ve gone everywhere, but I believe he would have gotten a hold of me by now, or his mom or his girl for somebody,” said De Amusategi.
On Jan. 5 she got a call saying four boys left out the back door of AMI in Farmington and her grandson was one of them. AMI is a residential program offered as a sanctuary to support young males.
“They’re notifying all the parents. They don’t know how he got away, they don’t know if it was planned, but where it’s located it’s really secluded there’s not much out there,” said De Amusategi.
AMI chose the location because of how secluded it was, but it’s not a lockdown facility. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office got involved and put out an NCIC alert on all four of the boys. So far, one is back home and another at a Juvenile Detention Center in Albuquerque.
“You know, it may be listed in NCIC, but he has to be picked up or arrested in order for it to be for him, it to come back, he’s a missing runaway,” said De Amusategi.
Now De Amusategi is worried that if her grandson is found he may not go home.
“I’m worried that people are gonna, you know, maybe the police department’s just looking at him as a troubled kid that they don’t really, it’s not important to really be on the lookout for him. He took responsibility for the mistakes and the choices he’s made in the past. It’s got him where he was,” Said De Amusategi.
She believes someone has to know something.
“I talked to him two days prior to him leaving, and he was doing fine. He said he was doing good. He was getting ready to phase up to another level. He was due to get out to come home at the end of April. I’m trying not to think of the worst, but right now, that’s all I can do,” said De Amusategi.
She wants more done to help locate her grandson Joseph, the other missing boy.
“From Albuquerque to Farmington is a long way of nothing in between, and we don’t know where he’s at. Right now, I’m not feeling very good about anybody out here looking for him. I think that all of the police departments between here, all the counties, should be looking for him, or post publicizing it, you know, putting it out there,” said De Amusategi.
KOB 4 reached out to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office about this, and they say they did not issue a local alert because they knew Joseph had no family in the Farmington area, and they had reason to believe he was headed to Albuquerque.
AMI is not pressing any charges.