A Graham teenager whose apparent disappearance last Thursday led to a prompt police investigation and a media alert turned out to be a false alarm when he was found riding water slides at Great Wolf Lodge in south Thurston County the next day. According to reports, he was unharmed and was turned over to his parents. A full accounting of the reasons behind events that led up to his discovery weren't immediately available, but the Pierce County Sheriff Department reportedly was considering seeking charges against him of false reporting of a crime. The Sheriff Department reported Feb. 19 night that it was investigating the whereabouts of Kenneth Colton Laase, 16.-áA department spokesman said Laase's family reported him missing on the evening of Feb. 19 after being notified by a neighbor that the boy's car had been seen parked on the side of the road with the engine running since 1 p.m., approximately four hours earlier. Laase's car, a silver 2004 Mitsubishi Montero, was located on 228th Street East, just west of Orting-Kapowsin Highway in Graham, and about one-third of a mile from Laase's home. It was unoccupied and the engine was running.-áThe teen's cell phone and school work were inside the vehicle.-á Laase is a student at Graham-Kapowsin High School, where he attended his classes in the morning of his disappearance but didn't arrive at his 1 p.m. college Running Start class. His disappearance was described by authorities as "highly unusual and very concerning." Information about him and a photograph of him were distributed to the news media as part of the attempt to locate him.-á
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