Teen who has autism 'missing and in danger'

By Jennifer Sullivan
Times Snohomish County bureau

	KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Roseanne Smith, mother of missing teen Ashton Smith, talks to a Snohomish County Sheriff's deputy yesterday in Lynnwood about her missing son, who has Asperger's Syndrome.
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When Roseanne Smith reported her 16-year-old son, Ashton, missing 24 days ago, police assured her that he probably ran away.

But from the start, Smith insisted it was out of character for her son to miss his 11 p.m. curfew. The teen suffers from a form of autism that makes it unlikely that he would deviate from his everyday routine.

Now, no longer considered a runaway, Mountlake Terrace police are classifying him as "missing and in danger."

"There's nothing to indicate he was abducted," said Detective Mike Haynes. "But we have not been able to rule anything out."

A photo of the Mountlake Terrace High School student has been posted on missing children's Web sites and tacked up at bus stops across Snohomish County.

Police say they are running out of leads.

Ashton Smith suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a disorder that can be characterized by regimentation or repetitiveness.

"Ashton has been gone for 23 days, outside of his normal routine, and I feel Aston would could come home, call me or something," his mother said yesterday. "He would be lost without his normal routine."

She said the teen interacts socially at a fifth-grade level and can be easily manipulated.

Smith, 42, who is unemployed, said getting police to reclassify her son as missing was a struggle.

	Ashton Smith

She said she begged Mountlake Terrace police and state officials to issue an Amber Alert — a statewide emergency broadcast — when he first disappeared but her request was rejected because it didn't meet the criteria.

Sue Wagner, missing children's clearinghouse coordinator for the State Patrol, said an Amber Alert is issued when the missing child is under 18, law enforcement believes the child is in danger and there must be enough "descriptive information" to think a broadcast would assist in the recovery of a child.

"If somebody had seen Ashton get into a car it would fit the criteria, absolutely," said Wagner, who is working closely with Mountlake Terrace police. "The problem is, if we did this on every missing child the plan would be ineffective. People would turn a deaf ear to it."

Since the state's Amber Alert system was signed into law by Gov. Gary Locke in October, it has been issued three times.

Ashton Smith's parents are divorced. Among those questioned has been Wesley Smith, the teen's father.

He told police he thought Ashton was depressed and perhaps suicidal, Detective Haynes said. But Ashton's mother disagrees.

The teen's father could not be reached for comment.

The teen was last seen about 9 p.m. June 9 in the cabana area of the Maple Glen apartments, where he lives, in the 5400 block of 212th Street Southwest in Mountlake Terrace.

He is white, has brown hair and eyes, is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He was wearing a gray or green T-shirt, blue jeans, white socks and blue Velcro sandals.

Geraldine Dawson, a University of Washington psychologist and director of the school's Autism Center, said people who suffer from Asperger's Syndrome have "routine and predicable lives."

"It is a developmental disorder that affects the child's ability to read social cues and to communicate nonverbally," Dawson said. "You can almost think of it as a social-learning disability."

Dawson said children who have Asperger's Syndrome have much better language and cognitive abilities than most children diagnosed with "classic autism."

While Roseanne Smith keeps busy tacking up fliers at bus stops in Snohomish and King counties, Haynes is disappointed that his tracking down of more than 30 tips has been unsuccessful.

"I've personally searched the parks in this city and the wooded areas within a mile of the complex," Haynes said.

"It is frustrating. We're doing everything we can to find the kid."

Jennifer Sullivan: 425-783-0604 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

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