A former Peachtree City resident is worried after her 13-year-old daughter ran away early this morning with a friend in a stolen minivan on their way to Florida.

Mary Carpenter said her daughter, Olivia Joe Stanford, and her best friend, Dorothy Baum, also 13 and a former Peachtree City resident, stole a 1994 grey Dodge Caravan from the Baum’s Lagrange, Ga. house around 2 a.m. The girls left behind a note saying they were going to Panama City, telling their parents not to call police and saying they’d be back Saturday, Carpenter said.

Police have placed a national “be on the lookout” alert for the vehicle and the two girls. Meanwhile, as she awaits word of her daughter’s safety, Carpenter remains upset. Law enforcement authorities declined to issue a statewide Amber Alert because the girls were not abducted, Carpenter was told.

The case is being investigated by authorities in Lagrange and Troup County in addition to those in Meriwether County; Panama City police are also aware of the situation, Carpenter said.

The girls and Baum’s mother had just returned yesterday from a trip they had taken together to Florida, Carpenter noted. Though the Carpenters moved to Meriwether County less than two months ago, Mrs. Carpenter still works in Fayetteville as a certified medical assistant at Peachtree Immediate Care.

Olivia is described as being approximately 5’2” 118 pounds with braces and a mole on her left cheek. She has medium brown hair, hazel eyes, pierced ears and no tattoos. The van, a grey 1994 Dodge Caravan, has a Georgia tag: 678TRX from Troup County.
Anyone with information on the girls’ whereabouts is asked to call Steve Carpenter at 706-637-9207 or e-mail stephen1767@yahoo.com.

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