Father Says Missing Teen Swore Off Train Surfing
Arseny Timofeyev, 14, from the village of Aristovo in the Krasnogorsk urban district, left home on December 3 and disappeared. Two days later, he showed up at school for lunch, dusty and dirty, and has not been heard from since. According to the Liza Alert search and rescue team, which spoke with MSK1.RU, the boy is actively moving around Moscow Oblast by commuter train: he is in one area one hour, and in another the next.
The boy«s father, Yevgeny, told MSK1.RU that his son had been train surfing, hitching rides on the outside of trains, but had promised to give up the dangerous hobby.
«He swore to me he»d never do it again in his life; his friends got him into it. I know people who are still involved, and I«ve reported everything to the police, each one by name,» the father said.
He added that the child might be in Domodedovo, as he was planning to spend the weekend there with a friend named Timur. On December 6, Arseny was caught on a surveillance camera at a shopping mall there.
«I can»t see from his face that he«s depressed; everything»s fine with him. He told his friends that I kicked him out of the house. I think someone is messing with his head,« the father said.
According to him, on the day the boy disappeared, he set a condition for his son: first clean up and do his homework, then go out.
«He didn»t do anything, and I, of course, confronted him: «What»s going on?«. He said he was coming home and hung up. This happened before when he lived with his grandmother. His grandmother scolded him, and he left for two days, but there in the village everyone knows each other, but here it»s completely different,« Yevgeny worries.
Train surfing is increasingly becoming a cause of death for teenagers. In connection with this, authorities are blocking Telegram channels that promote the dangerous hobby, and the Moscow Region children«s rights ombudswoman has demanded it be recognized as an extremist movement.
