Missing 19-year-old reunited with family

After Ashton Broderick Castle was located by Graham police last week, he has been reunited with his family and will return to Texas tomorrow.

Castle was found by his family on Tuesday, May 7, at an Amtrak station in Charleston, South Carolina. Ashton’s stepmother, Amber Rathmell Castle, has provided updates on the details of the case.

“He was sitting in a booth with his backpack and suitcase. His phone had been stolen. He is not physically injured, apart from bug bites everywhere, but mentally he will need a lot more guidance,” she said on Wednesday, May 7. “He has spent the past two weeks sleeping on park benches and living among homeless encampments and walking all over the city of Charleston.

Castle, 19, left his home in the 100 block of Fawn Trail at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, April 22. He was reported missing the next day and the GPD requested information about his disappearance.

Amber Castle said Ashton flew out of DFW without luggage on April 22 at 11:36 p.m., arrived in Las Vegas at 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 23, then took off at 8:39 a.m. and arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, at 4:11 p.m. with luggage.

GPD closed its missing persons investigation as the department investigated clues about Castle’s flight history. GPD Chief Brent Bullock said the department was able to track Ashton through agencies in those cities.

“We tracked him through other agency systems to Las Vegas, where he boarded a flight from DFW to Las Vegas. Then (he flew) from Las Vegas to Charleston, South Carolina,” Bullock said. “When we worked at the Las Vegas airport (we found) he made normal decisions on his own and was never on the phone or anything, so it wasn’t like anyone was coaching him or making him do anything he didn’t want to do . ”

Despite Castle no longer being on the missing persons list, Bullock said a welfare check is still being requested if he is located.

The department was contacted by Folley Beach South Carolina at 1 a.m. on Friday, May 3 regarding Castle. He was stopped while walking because he was suspicious. The two officers checked his welfare and reported that he was ‘in good shape’. They told GPD that Castle stated he was fine and was just seeing the world.

Amber Castle thanked the community for the support offered in locating Ashton. She said the family will leave for Fort Worth on Wednesday, May 8, where Ashton will remain and recover.

“I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for your thoughts and prayers and for your wonderful kindness,” she said. “I am truly so blessed and we wouldn’t have found him if it wasn’t for the grace of God and everyone’s prayers! God is so good! And I feel so blessed! Thank you very much. I couldn’t have done this without all your love and support.”