An alert was issued for a 13-year-old boy who went missing from Lake Villa. Police would not say if it is the same boy who is on the run after stealing a car from a Lake Villa middle school.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said that Jazarion Lightner, 13, went missing from Lake Villa on April 8.
Lightner is described as being biracial with brown hair and brown eyes. He is 5-foot-7 and 120 pounds.
The same date that Lightner went missing — April 8 — was when a 13-year-old boy stole a car from Palombi Middle School in Lake Villa.
Lake Villa Police Department Lieutenant James DeCaro told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that it was determined a 13-year-old male student gained access to a staff member’s car keys.
The student stole the staff member’s vehicle from the school’s parking lot.
An alert was broadcasted on the Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network to area law enforcement agencies about the theft.
DeCaro said the boy was later reported and entered as a missing runaway juvenile.
The stolen vehicle was described as a gray 2019 Kia Sorento SUV with an Illinois license plate of BM63486.
The juvenile is a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) ward of the state, DeCaro said.
He is believed to have driven to the Rockford area, which is where he is originally from.
DeCaro said a follow-up investigation determined that the juvenile may have accessed a firearm while on the run.
Law enforcement and DCFS authorities in the Rockford area were notified of the incident and have been actively attempting to locate the juvenile.
“Based on the information learned, the juvenile should be considered armed and dangerous,” DeCaro said.
DeCaro would not explicitly confirm whether the missing person alert issued for Lightner is the same boy as the one who stole the car.