The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Milan teen reported missing
Brittany Galanti listed as 'endangered missing' by police
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 22, 2007
The parents of a missing 15-year-old Milan High School sophomore have neither seen nor heard from their daughter in more than 11 days.
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The last time Joseph and Cathy Galanti saw their daughter Brittany was when she left for school the morning of Feb. 9. She did not return home.
The Galantis filed a missing person's report with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department Feb. 12 after spending a frantic weekend looking for their daughter.
"It will drive you crazy just trying to figure out where she might be," said Cathy Galanti. "Everything goes through your head. Everything."
Cathy Galanti said she and Brittany had an argument on Friday over whether the girl could attend a party that night. She believes the argument may have been the impetus for Brittany's not coming home.
The Galantis learned Brittany probably stayed Friday and Saturday nights with friends, but after that they have lost track of her. She has not been in school since Feb. 9.
Police have spoken with some of Brittany's friends in an attempt to learn her whereabouts, said Sheriff's Capt. Maryanne Ortman, but haven't had success. Police initially entered Brittany as a juvenile runaway, but that classification was upgraded Tuesday to "endangered missing."
"(Kids) usually stay with a friend until they wear out their welcome," Ortman said. "A prudent parent should call someone (if Brittany is staying with them)."
Kids sometimes claim they have been kicked out of the house, but parents cannot legally kick a child out until they are 18, Ortman said.
The Galantis do not believe Brittany planned to run away. She did not take any clothes, money, her cell phone charger or other personal effects such as makeup. They say she has never run away before.
"It's totally uncharacteristic of Brittany," said her mother. "We think it was a spur of the moment thing."
Brittany's disappearance has wracked her family with worry. Her grandmother, Patricia Galanti, can't eat or sleep, said Cathy Galanti, who said she herself is sleeping for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time –– when she can get any sleep at all.
Brittany's parents have been looking for her every day and plan to put up fliers in surrounding communities, asking Brittany to call home. Cathy Galanti has spent hours driving around and peering down side streets in a desperate hope of catching sight of her daughter.
"You think you just might see her walking," she said. "It's nerve-wracking."
They have tried calling her cell phone, but they think the battery may be dead. They have e-mailed her and checked her entry on myspace.com for any word. They know Brittany updated her site Feb. 16, and they take some comfort knowing that if she has access to the Internet she is likely somewhere warm.
But as time passes, anxiety mounts about Brittany's welfare.
"We're afraid she has gotten into something she wasn't prepared for," Cathy Galanti said. "I think she thinks she's in a lot of trouble, but I don't care. I just want her home. You can deal with about anything as long as she's fine and comes home."
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Brittany Galanti is asked to call Detective Jeff Corrie of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department at 1-734-529-8878 or 1-734-243-7070.
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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