Mystery of smashed car and missing teen solved

By Jade Lawton
UPPER Beaconsfield teenager Rees Armitage was set to be reunited with his parents in Sydney yesterday, after a whirlwind two nights on the run.
His parents boarded a plane for NSW after Rees, 15, was picked up by authorities there.
The teenager sparked a state-wide manhunt when he took his mother’s purple 2002 Holden Commodore on Saturday night.
The car was found on Sunday afternoon in a ditch off the Great Ocean Road between Lavers Hill and Princetown.
The vehicle was deemed a write-off but Rees, a Year 9 student at Berwick Secondary College, was thought to have walked away from the smash uninjured, locking the car and taking the keys with him.
A police search of the area failed to turn up any sign of Rees – but less than 24 hours later, he was spotted by an eagle-eyed bus ticket seller who recognised his face from media reports as the teen boarded a bus in Sydney.
NSW Police held Rees overnight and his parents, Paul and Susan Armitage, flew to Sydney yesterday (Tuesday) to bring him home.
Speaking to the Gazette on Monday before Rees was found, Susan said her son had celebrated his 15th birthday on Thursday.
The family had been conducting their own searches and waiting by the phone for news on their son.
“I think he’s scared and has made one wrong choice after the other. He has just turned 15 so he’s not a very good driver; I think he’s just gone forward,” she said.
“We just want him to come home; we’ll deal with the other business later.”
Mrs Armitage also said Rees’ Grandma was hopeful that Rees would be back in time for her birthday tomorrow (Thursday).
“We love him and his grandma is turning 75 on Thursday and she loves him and wants him back,” Mrs Armitage said.
The Armitage family could not be contacted yesterday.