Police say parents made 14-year-old wear shirt with ‘disturbing’ message before he went missing for more than a week

March 25, 2023 29

A teenager has been missing for more than a week since his parents snapped a photograph of him being punished by wearing a “disturbing” message, as described by police.

14-year-old Scottie Dean Morris went missing after he left his home in the town of Eaton at about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday in east-central Indiana.

In their first public statement about Morris, the Eaton Indiana Police Department shared a photograph of the boy with a recently shaven head and a T-shirt reading “I am a liar,” “I hurt my brother,” and other phrases meant to humiliate him.

They later deleted the image and replaced it with a cropped image.

Police also confirmed that the parents had made the teenager wear the shirt as a form of punishment, but they clarified that he had allegedly chosen to have his own head shaved.

“They went to Great Clips and that’s what he told them he wanted,” said Eaton Police Chief Jay Turner. “But the shirt — it was kind of unorthodox. It was disturbing. And we’re looking into that.”

Speculation online has run rampant since the details of the shirt were made public.

Turner made it clear to the public that Felicia Morris, his mother, had been very cooperative with the investigation and had her make a public plea to Morris through the news media.

“Scott, I love you and I want you to come home,” she said tearfully. “And I know that you’re mad and confused. I’m afraid that you’re scared of all this. Everyone is out looking for you and we’re not trying to scare you.”

Dozens of volunteers have joined the search for the teenager.

“We are a small department,” Turner added. “We have four regular officers and 18 reserves. Our reserves and our regulars volunteered their time to come in and do these searches.

Police said he may be in “extreme danger” and need medical attention.