Over two weeks ago, 15-year-old Thomas Medlin from Saint James, Long Island, went missing after traveling to New York City. His family is currently using media and other channels to seek help from the public in finding Medlin’s whereabouts. His mother, Eva Yan, revealed that authorities believe Medlin had plans to meet someone he had met on the online gaming platform Roblox on the day he disappeared.
During an interview on Fox & Friends on January 27th (Tuesday), Eva Yan recounted that on January 9th in the morning, her son had informed her that he would be with friends at school after classes and asked them to pick him up at the school at 9 p.m. When Medlin’s father went to pick him up at the school at 9 p.m., he waited for a while but did not see any sign of him. He then contacted the security, and after a search, they reported the case to the Suffolk County police at around 12:30 a.m.
According to the Suffolk County police in New York State, Medlin left Stony Brook School around 3:30 p.m. on January 9th and headed to Stony Brook Train station. He was last seen around 5:30 p.m. that day at the Manhattan Grand Central Station. However, there has been no trace of him since then, and he has not returned home.
The police described Medlin as 5 feet 4 inches (162 cm) tall and weighing 130 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black jacket with red stripes, dark sport pants with white stripes, carrying a black backpack, and wearing glasses.
“He has never left us before,” his devastated mother Eva Yan told News 12 Long Island, while also revealing alarming details discovered during the search for her son. She mentioned that investigators believe Medlin had met someone through the online gaming platform Roblox and arranged to meet them in New York City, which was completely out of character for her son.
Roblox released a statement saying, “We, just like everyone else, hope for the safe return of Thomas Medlin.”
The statement also mentioned that Roblox had conducted a thorough review to support law enforcement investigations and found no evidence of attempts to guide Medlin towards using external communication methods on the platform or sharing contact information outside the platform (including usernames, phone numbers, or other means of contact). Roblox will continue to provide assistance as much as possible.
Eva Yan shared that the police recently revealed that Medlin’s phone location indicated he was in Lower Manhattan and had been spotted in surveillance footage in Brooklyn. The last confirmed location was near Cherry Street and Rutgers Street in the Lower East Side.
“I just can’t believe why he would leave in the first place,” his father tearfully told the media.
Eva Yan expressed that they now “only hope he is safe and sound.”
Since Medlin’s disappearance, the family, along with friends, has organized search teams in Long Island and New York City.
Eva Yan told Fox News that Medlin enjoys playing tennis, table tennis, and traveling with family. He has visited countries like Italy, China, Japan, and Canada. Medlin speaks Chinese and Spanish.