The parents of missing Arizona teenager Jarrett Brooks believe he is possibly being held against his will after vanishing over a year ago.
The young cowboy went missing on July 4, 2023 after his parents grounded him for taking a vehicle off-roading.
The Navajo County Sheriff’s office has been leading the investigation and discovered home security footage showing Jarrett, then 16 years old, taking a handgun from the family gun safe and tucking it his waistband.
A neighboring rancher said he spotted the teen crossing his pasture and police searched the area. His parents believe he met someone and left the area.
‘We firmly believe he got a ride out of that area. The dogs did track his scent across the road to the pasture and it stopped there in the pasture,’ his mother Laura Brooks told NewsNation.
‘That area has been extensively searched by dogs, drones. We even had a helicopter flying over and that area has been searched numerous times since he went missing, and there is no sign of him out there. So the only thing that leaves us with is he was picked up out of the area.’
Laura Brooks said the last time she saw her son was around 6 a.m. that Fourth of July. When she realized he was gone about an hour later, the family began frantically searching for him.
A nearby rancher reporter seeing someone matching Jarrett’s description walking through his pasture. The boy’s father, Brian Brooks, said the neighbor described him as ‘in a hurry.’
The family believes Jarrett was picked up by someone he had just met and took the gun with him as a precaution.
‘He’s out there somewhere. I don’t think he’s safe, and I don’t think he would have been gone this long on his own accord,’ the teen’s father told AZFamily.
Brian Brooks dismissed concerns that his son might harm himself after investigators found footage showing Jarrett grabbing a gun.
‘That wasn’t the mindset of Jarrett. He’s not that kid,’ his dad said.
The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office has issued multiple search warrants in different parts of Arizona in its efforts to find the teen.
On the one-year anniversary of his disappearance, the department said there had been ‘no successful results in determining what happened to Jarrett.’
‘Jarrett is a son, brother, grandson, nephew, and friend. He is missed by family, friends, and his community. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Jarrett, please call our office,’ the sheriff’s office said.
Jarrett, the middle child of seven siblings, has been described by his family as a typical teenager with a big smile and laugh.
‘[He was] the family clown,’ Brian Brooks said. ‘He has an incredible sense of humor. He has an infectious, goofy laugh.’