Vigil Held For Missing Elkton Teens Nearly 2 Weeks After Disappearance

ELKTON, Md. (WJZ) -- Police in Elkton are still searching for leads in the disappearance of two teens. The days are passing by. Their families and friends are planning a vigil to keep their faces fresh in their community.

Gigi Barnett has the details.

The teens went missing within 18 hours of each other. Now family and friends are hoping a large reward will bring them back home.

"It's just odd. It's very odd. I don't understand it."

Family and friends of 19-year-old Ricardo "Ricky" Levenberry and 16-year-old Jesse Veasey Jr. are baffled. For nearly two weeks, detectives have searched for the teens in their Elkton neighborhood. So far--nothing.

Neighbors say they both got into a blue vehicle within 18 hours of each other. Neither has been seen or heard from since.

"The longer it is that we find something or we hear something, the more and more everybody fears that we're not going to find them safe," Ricky's family friend, Kelly Corriden, said.

That's why Corriden is organizing a neighborhood vigil Friday night at the park where Ricky got inside that blue vehicle. She says maybe the vigil will encourage someone to speak up.

"In a small town like this, somebody's going to say something because there's a $5,000 reward out. Hopefully somebody says something," Corriden said.

Ricky has a seven-month-old daughter. Corriden says leaving without saying a word is something neither teen would do. Plus, she says with Ricky and Jesse found, new fears in their tiny Elkton community will subside.

"They're just scared because it's very odd that a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old would just come up missing out of nowhere," said Corriden.

While the FBI's reward is already up to $5,000, family and friends of Ricky and Jesse say they're raising money too to add to the pot that would lead to any information to find the teens.

Corriden says at least 200 people are expected at Friday night's vigil. Detectives say anyone who may know where the teens are should contact Elkton Police or the FBI.

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