CLEVELAND — Police are reminding the public to always keep an eye out after a baker in Cleveland noticed someone she came across was actually a missing teen.
Inside Rudy's Strudel and Bakery, Lidia Trempe ensures everyone's stomachs and hearts are full.
“I want to pass that positivity and this camaraderie, like all of us together out to the world if possible, with perigees and kolackis,” said Trempe.
She also carried that same attitude Wednesday morning when she thought she spotted a missing 16-year-old boy who was posted on social media walking down West 117th Street.
“I'm like, my God, is that that young child that's missing?” said Trempe.
For a second, she contemplated whether or not she should turn around.
“If I don't know for sure, then that I can't live with myself because god forbid my child was missing, and somebody didn't turn around,” she said.
Trempe took a chance and turned around; she drove up right beside the teen and called the name that was posted on Facebook.
“He turns around. He's like, 'yeah,' and at that moment, I’m like, 'Oh my God, it's him,'” said Trempe.
Village of Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy and the president of Cleveland Missing said the community and social media are crucial in finding missing individuals.
“There's more members of the public and there are law enforcement officers and so this is why we need to have the public's help all the time,” Chief Majoy continued, “When Cleveland missing puts out stuff on our social media. We get hundreds of shares, and that's what we want.”
In every case they work, tips are their biggest asset , including this week's. The 16-year-old went missing from Fairview Park Monday night. Fairview Park Chief Paul Shepard said they spent hours searching, putting calls out to the media and posting on social media.
“They passed it on. There were a lot of people that cared. And they kept looking and we got some good tips,” said Shepard.
That post is why Trempe recognized him; now he's home.
“I think with anything with law enforcement, we'd like people pay attention. And we like people who do the right things. And in this case, she did,” said Shepard.
Police just hope more people can be like Trempe who when they see something, say something.
“It's kind of like what we're supposed to do; this is how I was raised. I mean we're here for each other. We're Cleveland,” said Trempe.
This story was originally published by Nadeen Abusada at Scripps News Cleveland.
