KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — Austin Gambler, 18, shown with addresses of 1500 Mill Road, Fort Wayne, and 179 Hickary Place, Buckhead, Ga., has been charged with escape, a level 5 felony. He was booked in the county jail at 11:43 a.m. Friday, May 20.

“We have kids in this facility who are hopeless. And if you’ve never been hopeless, you can’t imagine what it’s like,” said Mark Terrell CEO of Lifeline Youth and Family Services Inc. which operates Pierceton Woods Academy. “Our goal here is to help them be the men they are supposed to be and give them …read more.

“They have an accountability problem there,” said Winona Lake Police Officer Joe Bumbaugh as he was dispatched to a wooded area near Sellers Lake to help look for two more runaways from Pierceton Woods. Sometime prior to 10 p.m. Sunday, a white 17-year-old male and a black 12-year-old male ran away from the juvenile detention …read more.

In recent months the Kosciusko County Commissioners have been approached by Pierceton residents voicing their concerns over the Pierceton Woods Academy. Today, the three-member board signed a letter to Indiana State Representatives asking that they evaluate the facility. Commissioner Bob Conley said, “We’re asking them to take the bull by the horns and do something …read more.

Police were called to the area of SR 13 and U.S. 30 shortly after 10 a.m. today near Pierceton where it was reported two male juveniles have run away from Pierceton Woods. Police were driving around the area and on CR 150 North but were not able to locate the boys. We are now told …read more.

A Pierceton man came before Kosciusko County Commissioners this morning telling the board about problems at Pierceton Woods Academy. Rick Wagner lives near the facility, which houses juvenile offenders. He said he objected to the facility from the beginning and even went before Pierceton Town Council objecting when it was first opened in 2008. “We …read more.

Police from Pierceton and Kosciusko County are at the Pierceton Woods juvenile center in Pierceton where a riot is said to have broken out. According to scanner traffic, juveniles started fighting in what appears to be a recreation area. Staff workers were trying to break up the riot but realized they simply did not have …read more.