Missing Plant High Student Located

The search for a 17-year-old reported missing from the New Tampa area has ended with his safe return home.

Thomas Reffue disappeared March 29, driving his mother’s car. The teen’s disappearance sparked a highly publicized search.

Throughout Thomas’ disappearance, his father, John, took to Facebook to update people on the search’s progress while shedding light on the circumstances that prompted the teen’s departure from home.

“Thomas is an emotionally distraught young man who reached a point in his life where the prospect of losing his mother to cancer became too much for him to deal with,” John Reffue wrote on his Facebook page. “… he made an impulsive decision to run away from that unimaginable pain and anguish. He left without money, his cell phone, his ID, and we believe, in deep despair, distraught, confused and in unimaginable turmoil.”

John Reffue made numerous pleas for his son’s safe return in the media while also sharing reports about other missing children from across the country on his page. Family and friends raised $15,000 in reward money for information that might have led to Thomas’ safe return.

That safe return occurred Tuesday.

“Thomas Reffue, the missing Plant High School student, has returned home and is safe,” the Tampa Police Department announced in an email to media just after 1:30 p.m.

It is unclear at this time where Thomas spent the last few days.

Photo from Facebook

See Also:

• $15,000 Reward Offered for Plant High Student’s Safe Return

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