Waynesboro Police are searching for 16-year-old Dezire Jackson, who was last seen around 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, at her home on Viewpoint Way. Jackson stands 4 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 85 pounds, and authorities believe she ran away, according to her guardians, who reported her missing.
The search marks the second time in less than a month that Jackson has vanished from the same 300 block of Viewpoint Way residence. As reported by FOX43, Jackson was previously reported as a runaway juvenile from the same address on July 21, according to a Waynesboro Police Department CRIMEWATCH posting, before she was found safe. Jackson was also reported missing from Waynesboro as a 15-year-old runaway in February 2025, an incident that prompted a regional police search before she was safely located, per the Franklin County Free Press.
A Specific Case Number for This Search
Waynesboro Police logged the latest runaway incident on their daily blotter at 10:19 a.m. on Monday, assigning it case reference number WPD-202607091, according to the department's CRIMEWATCH listing. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (717) 762-2131 or submit tips online, the department says. The Waynesboro Police Department operates out of 57 East Main Street under Police Chief Ryan Ramsey.
Viewpoint Way has drawn police attention before in connection with missing teens. FOX43 reported that in May 2023, 16-year-old Wilvon Louis Raleigh was also reported as a runaway juvenile from a residence on the same street, prompting an earlier police search in that section of Waynesboro.
What Pennsylvania Law Requires
Under Pennsylvania law, specifically 18 Pa.C.S. § 2908, law enforcement agencies must investigate missing child reports immediately upon receipt and are legally barred from enforcing any mandatory waiting period, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Separately, state statute 35 P.S. § 450.402-A requires investigating agencies to immediately notify the missing minor's school district and the state's Vital Records office to flag official records until the child is recovered, per FindLaw.
Franklin County Children and Youth Services, based in Chambersburg, administers public child welfare services and juvenile safety programs across the county, though the dossier does not indicate whether the agency has been involved in Jackson's case specifically.
Runaways Make Up Most Missing Child Cases Nationally
Jackson's case reflects a pattern seen in national data. Runaways comprised 92 percent of the 32,167 missing child cases supported nationwide in 2025, with youth ages 15 to 17 accounting for 22,498 of those cases, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Separately, FBI National Crime Information Center analysis has found that approximately 70 percent of all missing persons are located or voluntarily return home within 48 to 72 hours of being reported missing.
Jackson's repeated disappearances from the same address, three since early 2025, come amid a string of recent missing-teen cases in the region that Hoodline has covered, including a search for missing Hillsboro teen and a separate Franklin County case involving a trafficking charge. Waynesboro Police have not indicated whether Jackson's case is connected to any other regional investigation, and no additional details about her current whereabouts have been released.
