Where’s David? Hundreds turn out to offer help in finding teen

PALMER — What started out as a social media faux pas turned out to be an enormous community gathering Saturday morning, as hundreds upon hundreds arrived at the Palmer First Baptist Church, just behind The Noisy Goose Café on Saturday, eager to do whatever they could to help find 16-year-old David Grunwald, who’s been missing since Sunday night.

The search, prompted by nonprofit Guardian Search & Investigations, was originally supposed to invite only a select few experienced searchers, but once leaked onto social media became a mass outpouring. So many showed up that organizers had to let dozens in at a time to be debriefed before meeting with group leaders, who gave them their assignments and let them take cell phone pictures of maps for use in the field.

Priority was given to those who could provide horses or all-terrain vehicles for off-road searches.

Locals Kaylene Johnson-Sullivan, and Dorice and daughter Lexi Tresham arrived with horses ready to go.

“Everybody is doing the best they can and I’m sure law enforcement is doing the best they can, and it came time to call in reinforcements,” Johnson-Sullivan said. “Our lay people may not know what they’re doing, but we can go out and look.”

“(The turnout) is incredibly awesome,” Dorice Tresham said. “It’s amazing. Everybody’s heart goes out to the family. This is every parent’s worst nightmare.”

Lexi Tresham said she had met Grunwald through friends of hers who went to school with him at Mat-Su Career Tech.

“He was a really good kid,” she said. “He was a really outgoing, super-caring, super-sweet — overall, a good kid.”

Jason Ortiz, of Palmer, doesn’t know Grunwald personally, but recognized him from a ski bus program they were both part of.

“Every time I see it rehashed on social media, it’s just a touching story and I can’t help but think of my kids and hope someone would do the same for me,” said Ortiz, father to five. “It was really cool to drive up and see as many cars drive as there were here. I was hoping it was all for this and not for another event.”

Newly re-elected District 12 state legislator Cathy Tilton, whose constituency includes Grunwald and his mother, Edie, was also on hand, ready to help in any way she could.

“From what we’ve heard from the people coordinating this, the police are involved but don’t have the manpower and are approving of this investigation,” Tilton said. “We’re very blessed and I’m very impressed this many people from the community showed up.”