Parents join search for missing son

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Michaella and Blake Tarter

Bryce Tarter

By Melanie Ruberti - bio | email

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - Michaella and Blake Tarter smile when they think of their middle child, Bryce.

"He's charming," said Bryce's dad, Blake. "Very well mannered, and very well spoken. Just an all around good kid."

Those traits are also how they knew something was very wrong when no one had heard from Bryce by Monday night.

"This is totally out of Bryce's character," exclaimed Bryce's mother, Michaella. "He would never leave us. He would never leave us this many days with no contact with any of us."

Blake agreed, "I think we have to find that truck. If we find that truck, we'll find Bryce."

It's that hope that Blake and Michaella cling to as they wait to hear any word from their 19-year-old son. The Tarter family traveled from Rhode Island to join in the search for their son.

"You can't sit home and wait," said Blake. "I was up driving around at 4am looking at trucks in parking lots and license plates. You just can't sit and stare at the walls."

Friends and loved ones are not letting a day go by without handing out fliers. On Friday, they canvassed the Wal-Mart in Pooler.

"Can you help look for this missing person?" family friends Mindie McCullen and Lisa Clay asked shoppers.

Another grouped looked in the woods and ditches for any sign of Bryce's white Nissan truck along Highway 204. But the family's sadness and frustration continues to grow.

"It's crazy," said Blake. "He's been gone for five days. He hasn't used his cell phone, and hasn't used his bank account. Somebody's got to know something. He just can't disappear for five days and nobody knows anything or has information."

"He knows that I love him unconditionally," she said when she paused to wipe away tears. "We both do. We have a very close relationship with him."

"There's no repercussions," added Blake. "We just need to end this. Bryce needs to come home."

Michaella describes Bryce as the glue that holds the family together. But life as they know it has stopped until Bryce comes home.

Bryce was last seen leaving a parking lot at Armstrong Atlantic State University. He was driving a 2000 white Nissan, Frontier pickup, with tinted windows and a black grill in the front. Atlanta Braves and Falcon's sticker decorate the back windows.

The truck has Maine plates, 944 -7QD.

If you have seen the truck or Bryce call AASU campus police at 344-3333 or Savannah Chatham Metro police.

SCMPD will be sending their helicopter on Saturday to assist in the search for Bryce. Family and friends will also be meeting at 10 am at AASU to conduct their own search. They're asking anyone who would like to come out and help to wear yellow or white shirts.