Open Letter from Beverly Knepper's Parents

The parents of Beverly Knepper – the 14-year-old girl who went missing this past Monday near Piedmont Park – have passed along this open letter and asked us to post it.

Just to clarify the info that is out there about our missing daughter and to give you a bit more info (we know it’s hard for all media sources to get all info correct) here is a brief recap.

Beverly began communicating with a boy that she did not know on Instagram this past Friday. Their plan (unbeknownst to us) was to meet for the first time in Piedmont Park on Monday at 4pm. He (the boy) said that he did not show up and police have been able to confirm his story. We know that she was upset with us on Sunday night because we were trying to curtail her communication with this young man. (He sent 4 pornographic videos to her). On Monday we were carrying on with life as usual until she left (without our permission) to meet him. 

Since she didn’t meet up with the boy from Instagram, we know it is a possibility that she ran away alone or with someone else that she met in the park. We, along with the police, talked to teenage boys at the BeltLine skate park today who thought they saw her there on Tuesday. We are praying that she is nearby and would ask for your watchful eyes to especially look should you walk the BeltLine. 

But, we also have the concern that she did not leave the park voluntarily because she took nothing with her. A scenario that is hard to even type is that she left to meet the young boy with the intent of returning but encountered a dangerous situation.

I wanted to make all of you aware of a phone call that I had from a CNN employee who encountered a threatening man twice as she ran in the park within the last two weeks. He tried to block her path and moved over as she moved over. The second time she encountered him, she started yelling as she got away from him. She contacted police both times but did not think they responded. She contacted me because she wanted me to know about the incident and also to tell me that Beverly’s appearance is similar to her own and so it distressed her to think that this man may approach similar looking females. We are, of course, asking APD to investigate this man and we spoke with Piedmont Park Conservancy about him today.

Please continue to be vigilant in looking for Beverly when you’re out and about. If you have any information regarding her disappearance or possible whereabouts, please call the APD’s Youth Unit at 404-546-4260 or Beverly’s parents at 404-453-9310. There’s also a Facebook page devoted to missing Beverly at https://www.facebook.com/findbeverly.