Teen Missing After MySpace Meeting

Oct. 13, 2008 — -- The mother of a missing Colorado teen says she had no idea her daughter had struck up a friendship with a soldier she met through MySpace, and now police have interviewed the man in connection with the girl's disappearance.

Police are in the front range of the Rocky Mountains today looking for 19-year-old Judilianna Lawrence, who was last seen Friday morning.

Known as "Judi" to her friends and family, the Colorado Springs teen was supposed to get on a bus to school Friday morning to meet up with classmates for a bowling trip. Instead, police believe she took off with a man who drives a yellow 2000 Jeep Cherokee and had posted threatening remarks on his MySpace page claiming to be a "cold-blooded killer," according to the girl's family.

El Paso County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Robert Jaworski said the man is a soldier in the Army and is a "person of interest" who has been questioned but is not being held.

Jaworski was one of about 30 members of a search and rescue team that tackled rough terrain in a rural area of El Paso County on horseback and ATVs.

Police do not know for sure whether Lawrence was in the area, but "it's close to her house and he's been known to frequent this area," he said.

Jaworski declined to comment on what led police to the man or what the man said about his connection with Lawrence during his questioning with police, citing the ongoing investigation. The man is stationed out of nearby Fort Carson, Jaworski said, and the military is aiding in the investigation.

Lawrence's mother, Aekyong Lawrence, said her daughter was a "sweetheart" who enjoyed cartoons and was diagnosed with a mental disorder in grade school and attends special education classes.

Her attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder caused her to have trouble focusing on several things at once, her mother said, but if someone took the time to explain things slowly she was fine.

"If you tell her 10 things all at once she doesn't know it," Aekyong Lawrence said. "But if you do it step by step she does it really good."