ROCKCASTLE COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Wynter Wagoner has been missing for nearly two weeks, and her father says he's being left in the dark as local, state, and federal agencies search for the 13-year-old girl.
Dusty Wagoner was working to regain custody of his daughter, also known as Wynterbrook, after getting out of prison this summer.
The Rockcastle County Sheriff says Wynter disappeared from her foster home on Wolfe Creek Road in Rockcastle County on the night of October 14.
News
Search for missing 13-year-old girl in Rockcastle County enters second week
"There's a message actually on my Facebook where she had wrote right before I got out how excited she was for me to be coming home. How excited she was to come live with me, she couldn't wait," Wagoner said. "She's my everything."
Wagoner says he didn't find out about his daughter's disappearance until days later, when a case worker contacted him.
"It's kind of depressing, you know. Because you just, you are left in the dark," he said.
The Rockcastle County Sheriff's Office is leading the search with assistance from multiple national agencies, including the FBI and the United States Marshals Service. Dusty says authorities have visited Wynter's aunt's house and her boyfriend's house to gain information.
"They've been everywhere, but they've never came to my family's house, not once," he said.
Dusty says his daughter had run away before and immediately called her grandmother when she got to a phone.
"I feel like she would have called me and let me know something because she did then," he said. "I definitely feel like there's something wrong."
The father says Wynter wasn't happy with her living situation.
"She wanted me to come pick her up several times. And I explained to her, I said, 'Wynter, I can't do that. I have to go through the courts. I have to do everything right because I can't just come and pick you up and take you off from there,'" Dusty added. "Because I'll get in trouble, you'll get in trouble, and you'll have to go right back."
Before Wynter's disappearance, Wagoner says things were looking up.
"It's been crazy, really. I have my hopes set high on just bringing her home and letting her have a better life and just a happier childhood, you know, she's been through a lot. Winterbrook has through her whole life," he said.
Now, Wagoner says controlling his emotions is getting harder as the search continues.
"I don't know what to do with myself, you know. It's painful," he said.
