Mom of Teen Who Vanished With Soccer Coach Reveals She Has Boyfriend Who's Shocked by Disappearance
The mother of the 17-year-old who disappeared with a school soccer coach is baring her heartbreak to Inside Edition.
“You always want to protect your children and I can't do that right now,” Scarlet Frisina said.
She watched the surveillance photos of her daughter, Caitlyn, apparently on the run with 27-year-old coach, Rian Rodriguez.
"She appears fine and I love that but that was Sunday and she could only have been gone a couple of hours. I don't know what has happened since then," she said while fighting back tears.
Surveillance photos show the teen and coach at gas stations while making their way north from Florida, possibly heading for the Canadian border.
Cops say the trail has gone cold, despite the national attention the case is getting. They believe they are keeping a low profile but hope they will see the coverage and "make the right decision."
Scarlet Frisina says she had no idea her daughter had a secret relationship with Rodriguez.
“He has been to our house,” she said. “We felt he was like a great guy, a good guy. It was a great shock to find out that not only has my daughter gone but she had gone with somebody we trusted.”
What bewilders the mother is that her daughter has a steady boyfriend and they even spent Thanksgiving together.
Just four days later, the teenager snuck out of her bedroom window and vanished with the coach.
The teen’s mom says her daughter's boyfriend is "devastated."
The Frisina family is praying for young Caitlin’s safe return.
“I fall asleep praying," the tearful mother said. "I wake up in the night praying.”
Caitlyn's father is also a soccer coach at the same school and got Rodriguez the job. He was too distraught to appear in the interview with Inside Edition.
“My husband and I are just devastated and desperate to know that she's okay,” the mother said.
She says the upcoming holiday season makes her anguish even worse.
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