This teenager is living out every kid’s dream…
We’ve all thought about hiding out in a superstore or mall, creating a fort hidden from the public eye, and then roaming freely when the store closes and all employees go home. Well, that dream came true for one Oklahoma teen, but not under the circumstances you dreamed of as a child.
Christopher Dunham, 16, from Grove, Oklahoma, spent the night in a toilet paper fort inside a Walmart after running away from his grandparents’ house. He went missing from his grandparents’ home on Sunday, Feb. 2, in the small Oklahoma town.
The boy was not gone for long, though, as the missing person’s case took a turn when law enforcement saw the teenager attempting to sneak back into the home as they were serving his guardian grandparents a search warrant on Tuesday evening.
Grove Police Chief Mark Morris told KSNF that he believed the child was timing his re-entry into the home with what he thought was the last officer leaving. The child misjudged his mark, leading him to be caught.
After taking a day or two to reunite and resettle with his family, Dunham’s grandfather took the boy to the police station for questioning. There, he told officials that during his time away from home, he built a fort out of toilet paper inside the Walmart store and slept in a dog bed.
I’m not encouraging kids to run away, but that kid’s smart to find a way to stay hidden while not in the wilderness.
However, Morris also reported to the news station that this entire case had many bizarre twists and turns.
“This is one of the most bizarre cases in my law enforcement career.”
When the child was reported missing, the grandparents refused to provide a picture to share with news stations due to extended family conflict. When police and a Department of Human Services child worker came to the Grove home on Tuesday afternoon, the grandparents denied them entry, which prompted the search warrant.
However, once they arrived again with documentation to search the property, Morris says they were met with hostility from the grandparents.
“They weren’t very cooperative.”
According to neighbors, this is not the first time there has been conflict between Dunham and his grandparents. Nearly a year ago, the neighbors expressed concern for the child’s well-being after seeing him mow the lawn when the heat index was 115 degrees. They approached the home, and the grandparents were combative when the neighbors expressed concern.
A second neighbor cited another instance in which they were concerned about the child’s well-being. They claimed the boy was locked out of the house when it was pouring rain and cold. The neighbor saw the boy pleading to be let inside.
“He was outside crying and begging to be let back inside,’ the neighbor told police. We heard his crying and her yelling at him to shut up.”
Once Dunham returned home after running away, he seemed to be in good health overall but had minor injuries. Morris reported the following:
“He may have a minor case of frostbite on his toes. It is unknown if this was related to this runaway or a previous incident.”
While it’s not ideal to spend the night in a Walmart to escape a bad family situation, it’s good to hear he has been reunited with his family and that DHS has been involved to ensure it does not happen again.
If you remember the 2006 movie Employee Of The Month, they had themselves a nice little fort in store… I’ve always wondered what it would be like.
I'm going to do this 😄 😅
*Employee of the Month* is a 2006 comedy film directed by Greg Coolidge, starring Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, and Dax Shepard. The movie is set in a large retail store and follows the rivalry between two employees, Zack and Vince pic.twitter.com/I6MXRDjlI6
— PopPixie (@PopPixie311) October 9, 2024
