Portland police have for the first time released information about their search for missing Portland teen Owen Klinger, but his family says they’re not buying the theory.

In a news release Wednesday, police said they believe Klinger, 18, had been watching videos about hopping freight trains, and when he was last seen, on Oct. 6, he was walking in the direction of a place where freight trains are commonly staged. Police also said Klinger had watched the movie “Into the Wild,” in which a young man goes to live “off the grid” in Alaska.

Police said they still don’t know where Klinger is, and a detective is working on the case.

At a gathering to search for him on Wednesday afternoon, Klinger’s mother, Mary Klinger, said the family was blindsided by the police announcement Wednesday afternoon and didn’t feel there was enough information to favor the “train” theory over others.

She said about four months ago, she said, her son subscribed to a YouTube channel about hopping freight trains. And he had watched the movie “Into the Wild” the weekend before he went missing.

But, Mary Klinger said, he watched that movie, and several others, with his roommates. He had also read the book and seen the movie in high school for a class. As far as the train videos, she said, it was one of several YouTube channels her son subscribed to.

“I feel today like we got punched in the gut," she said.

Mary Klinger said police have now taken her son’s computer and plan to do forensic testing on it. The computer has been in his dorm room, unsecured, since he left.

Mary Klinger said she also takes issue with police statements that her son “turned off his phone.”

“We don’t know that,” she said. “We just know that it is off. That’s not like him, either.”

She said she has been frustrated with the police’s approach to searching her son’s phone records.

Because her son was on a family cellphone plan, Klinger said, she has been able to get in and look at his phone records. Klinger said if her son was texting or calling one-on-one, she was able to see the phone numbers with which he was in contact. For group texts, Klinger said, she could see that there were multiple people in the conversation but couldn’t see the phone numbers of the people in the group text. She also couldn’t see what any of the messages said.

The last thing before her son’s phone “went dark” shows a series of group texts. Mary Klinger said she has checked with the groups of people her son would most likely be texting with, like the lacrosse team and his study group at school, and has not identified who her son was in contact with.

Police could request the texts from the phone company, she said, but so far, they have not done so.

“They don’t believe he’s in any immediate danger,” she said.

Mary Klinger isn’t so sure.

"I can’t believe him being able to contact us, or any of his friends, and not doing so,” she said. “I have trouble believing he’s not been hurt or hurt himself.”

Family and friends gathered to search several Portland parks Wednesday afternoon, continuing to look for clues as to the University of Portland student’s whereabouts.

Henry Sothern, 16, showed up to help search for Klinger, whom he knew through school, lacrosse and water polo teams.

“He’s a great kid, really social,” Sothern said. “He loves being active and outdoors.”

Sothern said searchers were looking for items that Owen Klinger was last seen wearing or carrying, such as a blue hoodie, a drawstring backpack, jeans, and a water bottle with his initials on it.

Owen Klinger was last seen Oct. 6, leaving his dorm, Christie Hall, around 7:30 p.m. According to video footage, he was seen at the edge of the University of Portland campus walking past, but not getting on, a TriMet bus.

Police have asked anyone with relevant information to contact Detective Lori Fonken at 503-823-1081 or Sgt. Joe Santos at 503-823-0406.

—Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR

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