Family seeks help locating Hilton Head teen missing since March 21

The family of a Hilton Head Island teenager last seen nearly five weeks ago is reaching out to the community in an effort to find her.

Payton Walker, 16, was last seen by her mother on March 21 at their residence off South Forest Beach Drive, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The woman told a deputy in the report filed March 22 that her daughter arrived home around 9:30 p.m. the night before and said goodnight.

The following morning, Walker’s mother went to work and assumed that her daughter went to school.

When the woman returned home from work around 4 p.m., Walker wasn’t home.

An hour later, when the woman realized her daughter wasn’t coming home, she called the Sheriff’s Office, the report said.

She told the deputy that she was unsure where her daughter had gone and had not been successful in contacting her over Facebook.

The woman said this is not the first time Walker has run away. The teen is in a juvenile program under the supervision of a parole officer, the report said. The parole officer also tried to get in touch with Walker and was not successful, the report said.

According to Rodney Walker, Payton Walker’s father, the teen has since been in touch with her parole officer but has not contacted anyone in the family in several weeks.

“I don’t even know if my daughter is safe,” Rodney Walker said on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t wish this feeling on anybody.”

Rodney Walker said his daughter has a boyfriend in Beaufort County and friends in West Virginia.

According to a Tuesday Sheriff’s Office news release, Payton Walker is known to frequent Ridgeland and may be in the company of friends.

Capt. Bob Bromage of the Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday that the case remains under investigation. Anyone with information on Payton Walker’s whereabouts can call Cpl. Andrew Calore at 843-255-3411.

Calls can also be made to Crime Stoppers by dialing 1-888-CrimeSC.

This story was originally published April 25, 2017 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Family seeks help locating Hilton Head teen missing since March 21."