15-Year-Old Missing After Train Trip to NYC

A 15-year-old boy from St. James, Long Island, has been missing since January 9, 2026, after leaving his school and traveling to New York City, where authorities suspect he intended to meet someone he connected with online through the gaming platform Roblox.

Thomas Medlin, a student at Stony Brook School, was last seen departing the campus around 3:30 p.m. that afternoon. He immediately boarded a Long Island Rail Road train at the Stony Brook station, arriving at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan several hours later, according to surveillance footage reviewed by police. Investigators have traced additional movements through video from areas in Lower Manhattan, including near the intersection of Cherry and Rutgers streets, and later in Brooklyn near Sands and Jay streets. No confirmed sightings have occurred since then, and Medlin's family reports no communication from him.

Medlin's mother, Eva Yan, described the disappearance as out of character for her son, who she said does not typically engage in such independent travel. In interviews, she revealed that detectives informed the family of evidence suggesting Medlin may have arranged an in-person meeting with an online...