A 17-year-old runaway trying to get back to Ohio from Louisville, Kentucky decided waiting for a ride was taking too long.
To expedite the process, he hopped on a semi-trailer—without the driver knowing it.
The runaway made it all the way to Indiana before a highway official at a weigh station spotted him.
Buckley called the Indiana State Police. Eventually, a trooper found the hitch-hiker and took him into custody.
Cold and Dangerous Ride
The runaway, whose name has not been released, left from Shelby, Ohio with a friend. The pair made it to Louisville, where his friend caught a ride back home. The runaway decided any ride was better than no ride, so he climbed onto the platform behind the truck’s cab.Buckley spotted the young traveler at an ISP/INDOT weigh station on I-65 just north of Seymour, Indiana—about 55 miles north of Louisville.
When he realized he had been spotted, he slid down from the platform and snuck away. Buckley sent a State Trooper after the truck, but when the trooper stopped the truck he found the youth was gone.
According to Fox News, the hitch-hiker was covered in road grime and diesel fuel—and no doubt very cold.
The teen, clad only in a light sweatshirt, rode 55 miles in the 65 mile-per-hour-wind. He might have ridden a lot further if he hadn’t been spotted.
He also could have slipped off the truck and hit the highway.
The driver, who had no idea he was carrying a passenger, is not facing any charges.