Police said Todd "T.J." Allen, 18, left his home at 42 Dixon Road in Sterling at around 1 p.m. on Monday. He left on his Honda XR100 dirt bike in an unknown direction, according to police.
Around 1:50 p.m., Allen texted someone to say he had crashed his dirt bike and hurt his leg:
"I just crashed."
"And my leg hurts."
However, several attempts to reach Allen or ping the location of his cell phone since then have failed, indicating this phone either ran out of battery or was shut off. Now, police are trying to find him.
As of 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 28, when police called off the search for the day due to the loss of sunlight, neither the teen nor his bike had been found. However, volunteers went back out around 8 p.m., despite being told by police not to after dark, to keep looking.
State Police say they will not be out on Thursday searching due to the prediction of bad weather, but would continue to work on leads and interview people who may have information. However, DEEP will continue its own search.
Allen frequents the Rails to Trails bike path that goes from Sterling into Coventry, Rhode Island, as well as the area of Ross Pond, according to police.
Police ask that anybody who may have seen him or know his whereabouts contact them at 860-779-4900. However, please don't form independent search parties, which may interfere with the K9 searches. If you'd like to help, go to the police or fire department to ask about joining a search effort.