Caller gives message from escapee group

ALLEGAN, Mich. (WOOD) - The mother of the youngest girl on the run with two escaped inmates from a northern Michigan correctional facility says she got a call from someone claiming to deliver a message from her daughter.

Brittany Rector's mother, Judy Olexa, told 24 Hour News 8 the call came in at around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning from a number listed as private on the caller ID.

"I believe she said that last night that Brittany - she said Brittany contacted her," Olexa told 24 Hour News 8. "(Brittany) asked her to contact me and let her know that she is safe and that she loves me ... That's all the information I got."

The woman claimed "she tried to get more information about where they were and everything" but could not, Olexa said. "The lady was crying, so I don't think it was a prank call or anything because somebody wouldn't have that much emotion."

"It would have been better to able to hear Brittany's voice," she added. "A mother would know, if she hears from her child, she would know in her voice if she's truly okay."

Rector, 17, has been missing since shortly after Kenneth Grauman II, 32, and Gregory Bradshaw, 23, escaped from a Lake County prisoner re-entry program on Sept. 28.

Rector is said to be Grauman's girlfriend. Laura-Lee Grauman, 29, is Bradshaw's girlfriend and is also believed to be with the group.

There have been no confirmed sightings of the foursome since they were seen stealing a 2006 GMC pickup truck near a farm in Kokomo, Indiana. Prior to that they were spotted on surveillance cameras ditching a Ford Taurus they'd stolen from West Michigan in a grocery store parking lot.

While it's not clear where the anonymous early morning phone call came from, Olexa says it's helped her to hear something.

"I guess anything is better than nothing at this point," she said. "Any little bit of hope is better than nothing."

Olexa said she's still frightened of what might happened next.

"That she won't come home and if she does, that I'll be burying her and that's not what I want," she said, eyes full of tears.

And she continues to place blame on Kenneth Grauman, who she says got Brittany hooked on meth.

"He has put me through hell and I'm ready to come back from hell and I'm bringing my daughter back with me," she said.

The publicity of the case has been a strain on Rector's family as they search the Internet for clues and are forced to sift through the negative comments of those critical of her family.

Olexa said she's made a written plea to Grauman on Facebook.

"Please send her home to us. I beg you. Please, Ken," she read from the letter.

The phone call came a few hours after she wrote that letter. But the call isn't enough for Olexa, who is now more determined than ever to get her daughter home.

"He can only run for so long... He's put me through hell," Olexa said. "I'm going to get my daughter back one way or another."

Anyone who spots the escapees or their girlfriends is asked to call 911. The U.S. Marshal's office is offering up to $1,500 in reward money for information leading to arrests.

"We all miss you so much. We want our Brittany back," Olexa said. "I want her home so I can celebrate her 18th birthday with her."