The family of a New York teenager is desperate for help locating their missing boy, Thomas Medlin, 15, who reportedly left the Stony Brook School on Long Island on January 9, 2026, and hasn’t been heard from since. The Suffolk County Police Department tracked Thomas in Manhattan just a few hours after he left school. The authorities believe the teenager may have set out to meet someone he met playing Roblox. It’s now been more than two weeks since Thomas’ disappearance, and as time continues to pass, the fear that he’s in danger increases by the minute.
The Suffolk County Police Department stated in a news release that Thomas left school about 3:30 p.m. January 9 and went to the Stony Brook train station. The department shared a photo of Thomas from Grand Central Station in Manhattan around 5:30 p.m. the day he disappeared. He wore a black jacket with red stripes, dark sweatpants with white stripes, and glasses, and he carried a black backpack.
Thomas’ mother, Eva Yan, told News 12 her son’s disappearance shocked her. “He has never left us,” she said through tears. Yan said thinking about her son being alone or lost in the cold breaks her heart. She just wants her son to be safe.
Thomas’ father, James Medlin, told the outlet, “I just can’t believe why he left in the first place.”
In a statement shared with CafeMom, a Roblox representative shared findings from an internal investigation.
“We are deeply concerned about a report involving a missing child, Thomas Medlin, in New York, and our thoughts are with him and his family,” the statement reads. “When we learned that one of our users was missing, we followed our standard process and immediately began an investigation, searched for any previous law enforcement inquiries, and reached out to law enforcement to offer any support in their investigation.”
According to the statement, Roblox found no evidence of anyone attempting to direct Thomas to off-platform communication or to share off-platform contact information, such as usernames or phone numbers. Roblox confirmed that the chat history was consistent with in-game discussions and found no evidence that Thomas used voice chat.
“We are holding Thomas and his family in our hearts as we hope for his safe return. We will continue to provide our full support to law enforcement throughout their investigation,” the statement concluded.
We are committed to safety; for anyone interested in learning more about the safeguards Roblox has in place and how to talk to kids about internet safety please visit http://roblox.com/safetycenter.”
As parents, we have such a love/hate relationship with technology. It certainly can make life easier, but it can also lead to heartache. We hope that nothing bad happened to Thomas and that he will be back in his parents’ loving arms soon.
Police ask anyone with information about Thomas to please contact Fourth Squad detectives at 631-854-8452 or call 911.
