Two Texas teenagers who ran away from home were found in Louisiana — having traveled some 145 miles through the night — after crashing a car into a tree.
A 13-year-old girl from Atlanta, Texas had been driving a Chevrolet sedan southbound on US-71 near the Natchitoches-Winn Parish line when she “apparently fell asleep,” Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
The car then traveled across the center-line, exiting the road on the left side, and went through a ditch before ramming into a tree. A photo of the car, released by authorities, shows the Chevrolet badly damaged on its front left side, including missing a headlight.
Authorities reported to the scene around 5 a.m. Tuesday after receiving 911 reports of a single-vehicle crash. Two 13-year-old girls, neither of whom have been identified, were found in the car, the sheriff’s office said.
One was suffering from minor non-life-threatening injuries. Emergency medical teams assessed the injured teen and released her, the authorities said.
The 13-year-olds were then taken from the scene of the crash to the sheriff’s office, where they were later released to their relatives.
It’s not immediately clear why they were running away or who owns the Chevrolet they were driving.
The Independent has reached out to the sheriff’s office for more information.
The case is currently under investigation.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement: “Deputies and Louisiana State Police continued to investigate why two 13-year-old juveniles from Texas would be traveling in a vehicle at 5:00am in the morning learning they were runaways from Atlanta, Texas.”
