Riley Crossman is a 15-year-old high school student from Berkeley Springs, WV that has been missing since May 7th. According to reports, she was on the phone with her boyfriend until 10:30 PM the night before and texting friends until midnight that night. The last activity from her phone was attempting to video call her boyfriend at 5:40 AM. Riley’s parents, Lance Crossman and Chantel Oakley, are worried that she’s been abducted.
Chantel checked Riley’s room on May 7th at 7:15 AM and noticed she was gone but assumed she had left for Berkeley Springs High School since class starts at 7:45 AM. Chantel started worrying at 3:30 PM when Riley did not come home and she received a call from the school that Riley had been marked absent that day. She searched the high school and spoke to her boyfriend before contacting Riley’s father and the police to report Riley as missing.
Riley has a little sister, Jade Crossman, and a boyfriend, Haydn Lacy. Her parents are divorced but her family all lives in Berkeley Springs, WV and the surrounding area.
Police and FBI are conducting “a large coordinated search” on Wednesday, May 15 and there has been a massive outpouring of support for Riley and her family from the local community. As of May 14th Riley is still missing.
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Chantel Oakley described her daughter as a “reliable teenager”. She last saw Riley when she woke her up for her evening shift at work, “And when she got home, she woke me up. She said, ‘It’s 3:30, time to wake up,’ and I said ‘Thanks, babe,’” Chantel told Dateline. “Riley said, ‘No problem.’ She was acting normal. She went toward her room and I got ready for work.”
Chantel told Dateline that Riley does not have her learner’s permit or access to a car and was not the type of teenager to run away. “That is why I immediately would start checking things because she would not run away,” Chantel said. “She loves us. She wouldn’t want us to be upset.” Riley’s father agreed, ““She wouldn’t just run off. She has never hurt anyone in her life. She’s very gentle.”
Riley is on the gymnastics team at Berkeley Springs High School and participates in multiple extracurricular activities. She was a model student and responsible teenager according to everybody close to her.
2. Riley and Her Boyfriend Have Been Dating for 8 Months Are Very Close
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Riley has been dating Haydn Lacy since August 2018 according to her relationship status on Facebook and multiple Instagram posts. The two have matching Instagram accounts, @thatrandomgirlsayshello (Riley) and @thatrandomguysayshi (Haydn), and most of their photos are with each other.
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In addition, Riley has an entire Instagram account dedicated to their relationship (@h_r_spams) which features only photos of the couple together. She also has an account dedicated to “couple memes” (@h_and_r_memes) where the couple posts “offensive” memes together.
A post shared by Riley & Haydn❤️♾ (@h_r_spams) on Mar 29, 2019 at 7:46pm PDT
Haydn’s Instagram and social media is also mostly content documenting their relationship. He posted Riley’s “missing” poster on his Instagram after she disappeared.
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Haydn was a positive influence on Riley’s life. “He’s a pretty good kid. Riley has been pulling her grades up since she’s been with him,” Riley’s Dad, Lance Crossman, told Dateline. “He’s pretty tore up over this. I know that’s the first place people typically look for suspects, but it’s not the case here.”
Riley’s parents said her boyfriend and his family have been trying to help locate Riley “since day one, from 7:00 a.m. to midnight.” Haydn was on a field trip the day Riley disappeared and was unaware of the situation until returning home at 3:30 PM.
3. The Berkeley Springs Community has Banded together to help
Riley’s high school is doing everything they can to help find Riley. They organized a rally on May 13th, asking the entire student body to wear blue and gold to “show of support from the BSHS community in the efforts to get her home safely.” according to their Facebook page. The high school has asked the student body multiple times to help out with the search.
Riley’s father, Lance, told Dateline “We’ve had several volunteer searches that we’ve organized. There’s just been so many areas that we have covered on ground searches. It’s been the worst thing that’s ever happened to any of us. None of us are sleeping or eating very well,” he continued. “We do have a good support system and community support. But it’s been horrific.”
4. The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department Received Too Much Help
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department is planning “a large coordinated search” for Wednesday, May 15. Volunteers are asked to meet near the Office of Emergency Services at 9:00 a.m. in the old War Memorial Parking lot. They are still looking for team leaders and volunteers but have received so many offers volunteering their equipment. On a Facebook post, they announced, “We are not looking for any additional equipment or resources now other than those who can walk and physically search areas.”
The Sheriff’s Department is being assisted by the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, West Virginia State Police, and many others. The search efforts have considerable resources and has logged “hundreds of man hours” so far according to a statement by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department. While they are still looking for volunteers they urge the local community to stop volunteering their equipment.
5. Riley Posted Sad Messages on Instagram Days Before Her Disappearance
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Most of Riley’s Instagram feed and Facebook feature positive messages and photos with her boyfriend and family. On May 2, she posted a video with a Snapchat filter with the caption “smile through the pain”. On May 7th, she posted a selfie with the caption “You’re like a penny, your practically worthless, no one wants you, you’re almost always in a dirty place, you’re two faced, you don’t shine, and your value is very very low☺️ (Directed?♀️?)”
These posts are in stark contrast to the rest of the content on her page. At the same time, she posted a positive message to her “spam” Instagram account (@rileys._.spamss) posing with her boyfriend’s jacket. The negative posts are most likely coincidental.
