A D.C. teenager who told his family he was going out with his friends over a year ago hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
Brian Ward was 17 when he was last seen getting in a car near his Petworth home in September 2020.
Police said there’s been no activity on his phone, social media or financial accounts.
Police said they’ve received lots of tips, but none panned out.
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“Up to this date, we have not had anything concrete to where we could locate or even get any kind of a story of what happened the night he went missing,” Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Kevin Kentish said.
Brian’s family said they’ve been targeted by scammers demanding ransom. His father, Jonathan Ward, received a text last year claiming they kidnapped Brian. Police told them it’s a common trend.
“They were saying with a lot of missing kids, they send these to people trying to extort them for money,” Jonathan Ward said.
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Brian’s parents say their son is respectful, loves his family and has never been in trouble.
“He knows his parents love him and miss him very much,” said his mother, Lavangela Ward.
“It’s a difficult thing, the unknown is really a hard, different thing,” Jonathan Ward said. “No kind of closure whatsoever.”
Last month, Brian’s family celebrated his 18th birthday without him, wearing shirts saying, “We miss you.”
“I’m very hopeful that my son is alive somewhere and I just need him to reach out,” his mother said.
