By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Two petitions have begun circling social media over the past few weeks calling for change in how law enforcement refers to and approaches what are currently considered “runaway” cases, thanks to the parent of a Beaufort preteen who hopes to prevent others from going through what her family went through.
Twelve-year-old Emily Hollis went missing from her home in Beaufort on Saturday, Feb. 15, and it was later discovered that she was in the company of 16-year-old Chase Eskeets.
Both juveniles were reported by the Beaufort Police Department as runaways based on known evidence and evidence found at the scene, according to Lt. Lori Evans with the police department.
She told The Island News that they “were in a known relationship and had run away, which included a note left by Emily Hollis.”
During the time that Emily was missing, her parents took to social media to share their experience from their perspective in dealing with local law enforcement while trying to find their daughter to bring her home.
Their videos and posts on social media sparked a very heated response from the Beaufort community regarding the perceived manner in which the police were handling her recovery.
The events and response from police from the moment that Emily went missing until she was found days later, that encouraged Emily’s mother, Autumn Hollis to start petitions to replace the word “runaway” with “missing” or “endangered youth” and to enact what she is calling Emily’s Law, hoping to criminalize the act of taking children aged 15 and younger over state lines, even if the “abductor” is an older juvenile and the younger child goes willingly.
‘Runaway’
Hollis states in the online petition that terms like “runaway” negatively impact how not only the public views a missing person report, but how it is handled by law enforcement as well.
“Context matters – when you think of the word ‘runaway’ what images come up?” Hollis said. “When you think of the words ‘missing child’ or ‘endangered,’ what do you picture? All of these terms can refer to the same youth. However, based on our assumptions or the narratives we hold, we either visualize a child victim in need of assistance or label them as a bad kid who chose their circumstances.”
Hollis is proposing a legislation change for all children who “vanish” from their home to be referred to as “missing” and not “runaways” and hopes that the petition will gain traction so that legislators will put forth legislation that will push law enforcement to act immediately to search for the child “rather than withhold their efforts under the assumption that the child will return on their own.”
“Runaways are still missing children,” Hollis said. “The label of “just a runaway” is dangerous and the assumptions that come with it can be life threatening.”
On the petition, Hollis says that the first 48 hours are the most important when any child goes missing, and if they are labeled as runaways the necessary time and resources are not allocated quickly enough to find them, resulting in higher numbers of youth homelessness and victimization for child trafficking.
“As a community we have a duty to care for all of our children as if they were our own,” Hollis said. “We must fight against the indifference that too often surround runaway cases.”
Emily’s Law
The second petition that Hollis has started circulating is to try and garner support for a law protecting youth younger than the age of 15 called Emily’s Law.
Currently in South Carolina, there are no legal consequences for a juvenile over the age of 15 to take a child under the age of 15 from their home and across state lines and Hollis says this should change.
“In South Carolina, the age of consent is 16, meaning individuals under 16 cannot legally give consent,” Hollis said.
Hollis points out that in South Carolina, you must be 16 to consent to most health services, sexual contact with anyone regardless of age, hold a job and drive with an unrestricted driver’s license.
“According to the laws of South Carolina, whoever shall unlawfully seize, confine, inveigle, decoy, kidnap, abduct or carry away any other person by any means whatsoever without authority of law, except when a minor is seized or taken by his parent, is guilty of a felony,” Hollis said.
Hollis defines “decoy” in the context of kidnapping, as the act of luring or attracting someone by using fraud, trickery or temptation without using force and states that in South Carolina, a minor – aged 16 to 17 years old – can legally take a willing [decoy] 12-year-old across state lines without consequences.
“The law must be changed,” Hollis said. “This cannot continue to happen. The crime not only emotionally traumatizes the victim, but their families. It also exposes the minor to greater danger.”
She said that the gap in legislation leaves families and children vulnerable because once state lines are crossed the search and rescue operations are made more complicated and chances of recovery drop.
“Unless we make this change, our legal system inadvertently becomes an ally of those who harm our children,” Hollis said. “This is a dangerous loophole that needs immediate attention.”
Hollis’ daughter and the older teen she was with were located and brought home after being missing for four days in Florida.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
