Family shares message for Pennsylvania teen Enci 'Aubrey' Wu who left home in January, 'I just want to know you are safe'

NBC News

12-03-2025

It has been 60 days since Jade Wu and John Gehrmann last saw their 14-year-old daughter, Enci 'Aubrey' Wu.
An only child, Aubrey grew up in California where she was raised by her mother, Jade. The two moved to the East Coast just a few years ago. That's when Jade met John Gehrmann. The couple got married and the family settled in the city of Easton in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.
'Aubrey is very intelligent and gifted, and she also has a very bubbly personality,' Jade told Dateline. 'She loves dance, she loves volleyball, art, and also really -- she participates in FBLA -- which is the Future Business Leaders in America -- and Mock Trial.'
John came into Aubrey's life when she was about 12 years old.
'She makes an impression immediately and very impactfully, much like her mother,' John told Dateline. 'They are two of the strongest, most resilient women I've ever met.'
While Aubrey is a social butterfly, she also struggles with issues that many teenagers today struggle with, according to her family. 'She has anxiety and depression,' Jade said. John and Jade say that over the past few years, they have been working to find their daughter a therapist 'to help Aubrey to have space and resource with professionals to talk about whatever she struggles,' Jade explained.
Following the recommendations of Aubrey's doctors, John says the family followed a very structured lifestyle. 'Some of the things that they had asked us to do in the home was to give her certain responsibilities -- things she would be accountable for,' he said. Audrey would do the dishes after dinner and take care of her beloved cat, Orangie. 'He sleeps with Aubrey every night. She feeds him breakfast. She takes care of his box,' John said.
'Aubrey insisted that I create an Excel sheet for her with columns and rows for every day of the week so that she could visually chart her progress,' John said. 'And I think what made her the most proud was at the end of the week, sitting down with Jade and I and saying, 'Look at what a good job I did. I was so perfect.' And that very much illustrates the Aubrey I know.'
John says Aubrey often read and listened to self-help books. 'Not only did she read them, she would put them right into effect in front of our eyes, as far as, like, conflict resolution, emotion regulation,' he said. 'She was really impacted by what she was going through in her personal mental health journey with the resources that were working with her. And then she just took it on her own to do some work to try to understand herself.'
Jade and John told Dateline both had noticed their daughter was acting a bit withdrawn in the period leading up to her disappearance. Her grades had also started to slip a bit. 'So the night before she left, we start to ask her questions about it,' Jade said. 'So we are trying to ask her to understand what is going on.'
'She was eating less than normal,' John added. 'I was a little concerned.'
On Thursday, January 9, 2025, John and Jade had a pre-scheduled call with CYS (Children and Youth Services). 'Just part of the ongoing efforts here to figure out, you know, what's the right steps we want to take for Aubrey,' John said.
Jade and John's attorney, Alexandria Crouthamel, told Dateline the family was using the CYS resources to help Aubrey. 'So many of our teenagers in this community,' she said, 'are having a mental health-- or struggling with bullies or social media addictions.' And while CYS is often used to remove children from dangerous situations, Crouthamel emphasized they also provide other services. 'They're also there to provide services such as psychiatric help,' she said. 'Oftentimes they're there as a pillar to assist the parents when the teen is going through some kind of crisis, which I would say 95% of the teens that walk into my office -- and that I know personally -- are, because being a teen is hard.'
John says during that pre-scheduled phone call with CYS, he and his wife learned about an incident involving Aubrey that happened at school a few weeks earlier. 'We got feedback from teachers, some guidance from a counselor on how to address Aubrey and our concerns.'
Jade and John say they approached Aubrey that night for a conversation. That's when they say they learned Aubrey had been using her phone as a hotspot for a secondary burner phone. 'We're probably talking into the wee hours, almost midnight. Just a lot of spinning the wheels,' John said. 'It was a very difficult conversation.'
They eventually decided to get some sleep and regroup the following evening.
That Friday, January 10, Aubrey was home from school. 'There was a death of an administrator at her school the weekend prior. So they had -- impromptu -- made that Friday afternoon, January 10th, an in-home school day for all the kids in the high school,' John explained. He told Dateline Aubrey sat at the kitchen table working on homework. 'She was there all day. She was working, I would say, very diligently, as usual. Big, huge, fat U.S. history textbook that she's buried in all day.'
After Aubrey was done with schoolwork and he and Jade finished with work, they each took a nap before dinner. 'It was a long Thursday night. It was a very tense Friday,' John said. 'We're all taking a nap. We've got dinner on the stove.'
'And we get this bang on our door at 8 o'clock,' John said. 'We're woken to the sound of somebody banging on our bedroom windows quite aggressively.'
John got up to see what the commotion was about. 'And I immediately holler at Jade, 'You gotta wake up, there's a lot of cops outside,'' John said.
They let the officers into their home, who explained they were there for a welfare check. 'This woman called in and requested that the Palmer police come to our house to confirm that Aubrey was home and safe because their son was crying hysterical to the mother, claiming that he speaks with our daughter every single day and that he hadn't heard from her in 24 hours,' John said. 'I did say to the police, one of the first things was, 'Well, it's definitely possible because last night we discovered that she has another device in our home. We took away her phone. We didn't let her have it after we discovered the hotspot, and we turned the hotspot off.' So it seemed logical to us that that welfare check could have been very valid.'
Meanwhile, Jade went upstairs to check on Aubrey. Aubrey wasn't there. 'It was very, very difficult, for us to really understand what was going on,' John said.
Dateline spoke with Sergeant Tyson Unangst, a community affairs officer with the Palmer Township Police Department, who says the department started taking information from Jade and John that night. 'It's very important, you know -- especially with a juvenile -- very important to get that information out to other jurisdictions, to -- to assist in locating that person,' he said.
The Palmer Township Police Department has listed Aubrey on their website, where they state she had 'run away from the home by exiting out a bedroom window.'
Through their investigation, police tracked Aubrey's movements. 'Investigators have confirmed she was seen in New Jersey and at a Wawa Store in Whitehall Township on January 11, 2025,' their website states. 'Since then, neither family nor law enforcement has been able to locate or contact Enci [Aubrey] Wu.'
Dateline asked Sgt. Unangst about the sightings. The first sighting of Aubrey, in New Jersey, was around midday on January 11. 'It is not that far off from our location,' he said. 'You can go through the city of Easton to get to Phillipsburg, New Jersey. It is not far. You're about a 10-minute ride by car, so it's -- it's a few miles.'
He says Aubrey did not look uncomfortable or like she was under any kind of stress in the footage. 'She was actually at a dog show and she was actually assisting,' he said. They interviewed people at the dog show and, based on their recollections, he says it sounded like everything was normal. 'She actually appeared like it was a good day for her, maybe -- a fun day,' he said. It appears that Aubrey was at the dog show for most of the day, until around 5:30 p.m.
The second sighting was later the same day, around 9:30 p.m. This time, Aubrey was back in Pennsylvania — in Whitehall Township. 'For the Wawa, that was, uh, security -- that was a video surveillance, and we did confirm she was there,' the sergeant said. Authorities believe Aubrey got a ride to the Wawa, but they are still investigating that. Unangst says Aubrey bought a drink, using cash, and appeared to be alone. According to a March 11 press release from the Northampton County District Attorney, Aubrey was 'seeking transportation and/or funds from strangers' while in the vicinity of MacArthur Road in the area where the Wawa is located.
Investigators gathered additional security footage to examine and the Whitehall Township area was searched for any sign of Aubrey. 'We did have a federal agency assist us with a—a K9 usage,' Unangst said. 'However, that did not—that did not turn up any positive leads on any type of articles being found.'
The sergeant says there have been many reported sightings of Aubrey since she was seen on the Wawa security video. However, 'some of that information that we're getting from the public isn't being reported immediately,' Unangst said. 'So now it's where we're, you know, we're backtracking.' None of the reported sightings has been substantiated.
Unangst would like to urge the public to call with possible sightings as soon as possible. 'We cannot stress enough, to call immediately. Do not approach. Get a very good description of her. Um, you know, we're, we're getting reports that she may have changed her hairstyle. Uh, she may have some sort of piercings now. And again, this is all information that we can't confirm,' Sgt. Unangst said. 'Really, we can't stress, you know, don't go home and think about it and talk to your neighbor or talk to a friend or, you know, go on social media and say, 'I think I saw her last week. I wasn't sure.''
'If she's in a vehicle, if they can describe the vehicle, uh, a license plate. Try and stay on the phone. Obviously, we don't want anybody to follow her,' he said. 'But try and get a good description and call immediately, is what we're asking.'
Authorities think Aubrey has gone off the grid. 'We believe, through the investigation, that she has disposed of any type of electronic that she had with her,' he said. 'We have no known contact of any—any type of social media.'
'That is the scariest thing. It was basically the five weeks prior, 24-7 social [on the second phone], and in the eight weeks since, absolutely nothing,' John said.
Authorities are looking at Aubrey as a runaway. 'In my career, this is one of the longest ones that has not decided to come home or even called home or even called a family member, let alone calling their close friends, or—or a neighbor or something.' However, they are keeping all options open in the investigation. 'We're not focused specifically on one person, or anything like that. We're looking, we're investigating,' he said. 'We don't have anything criminal at this time, and we're keeping an open mind.'
According to the district attorney's March 11 press release, the Palmer Township Police Department has been receiving support from the FBI, Homeland Security, and the Pennsylvania State Police, among other agencies. The release states they would 'like to ensure the public that every measure is being taken to locate Ms. Wu and return her to her parents.'
Sergeant Unangst emphasizes that his department is determined to find Aubrey — no matter how much time passes. 'I get the frustration,' he said. 'But it is an open investigation involving a juvenile.'
Despite the struggles Aubrey was facing, Jade told Dateline she never thought her daughter would run away. 'In my opinion, I thought that everything was slowly progressing in a very good direction,' she said. Both she and John had been under the impression Aubrey had been doing relatively well. They now feel that the combination of her ongoing mental health issues, the incident at school they had recently learned about, and the fear of getting in trouble for having the second phone were all contributing factors to Aubrey running away.
Looking back at their conversation with Aubrey the night before she left, John has some regrets. 'I don't think I had enough perspective on how difficult it was for her,' he said. 'I recognize that I needed to be much more understanding, much more open-minded. And since that day she's been gone, I've made it my mission so that nobody who encounters me doesn't know her story.'
The family has created the Facebook group aubreysNOTfound, to share photos of Aubrey and updates in the case. John emphasized that the goal is to bring Aubrey home. 'She has two adults at home who love her and miss her, and I will not stop fighting,' John said.
Her parents aren't the only ones at home who miss Aubrey.
Orangie does, too.
'The same bedroom window that she left our home from is how Orangie entered our house,' John said. The cat was a stray before Aubrey took him in. 'Orangie misses her tremendously and he really wants to see his sister again.'
'Orangie has been laying on her bed many times and then being more vocal-- meowing on us,' Jade said. 'Everyone in this house really miss Aubrey.'
Jade and John also spoke directly to their daughter on the chance she sees this article.
'Aubrey, I want you to know I've always been really proud of you, and I think you are so smart, and you are very brave. I know it must be difficult time for you, just like us, but we're always here for you and wait for you,' Jade said. 'I just want to know you are safe and we will be home waiting for you until you are found. I will never give up and I love you so much and it will never change.'
'Kiddo, regardless of what has happened, none of this is anything you need to worry about any longer. Please pick up a phone. Call 911, call me, your mom, somebody you trust, and we will take care of this,' John said. 'Any of the things that have gone on, anyone that has hurt you, I promise you, we have so much new friends and supporters that are gonna show you nothing but love and the light of this world.'
Aubrey is 5' tall, about 145 lbs., with long, straight black hair and hazel eyes. According to her mother, Aubrey has multiple ear piercings, a heart tattoo on her left wrist and two small purple star tattoos on her left palm. She was last seen wearing a black jacket with red sleeves and black yoga pants.
'She also had on her favorite possession in the world, her white-on-white Billie Eilish Air Force One Winter 2023 limited edition sneakers,' John said. Billie Eilish is Aubrey's favorite singer. 'We just went to see her in concert in October,' Jade said. 'She was over the moon about it.'
'She is a beautiful, young, talented girl who has the immense probability of being a great human with a huge impact for society,' John said. 'And we want to make sure that she is home, and she is home safely so that we can continue getting her help and getting her back on the right path in her life.'
If you have information about Aubrey's disappearance, please contact the Palmer Township Police Department at 610-759-2200.