06:13 PM MST on Wednesday, April 27, 2005

By JOHN ROMERO / 6NEWS

UNION COUNTY -- A Union County school bus driver is under arrest for his alleged role in the disappearance of a 16- year-old girl. Jemelia Funderburke was last seen getting on the school bus last Wednesday.

Police said the bus driver admitted to driving Jemelia in his own car to Eastland Mall and dropping her off. That was the last time anyone has seen her.

The Union County Sheriff said when Funderburke got to high school last week she decided she’d rather go to the mall and convinced her bus driver to take her in his own car. That is why police arrested Maurice Stitt, 22, and charged him with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

“She actually hid out in the back of the bus, so she wasn’t seen and talked him into taking her to Eastland Mall, said detective John Young with the Union County Sheriffs Office.

“I got a call from the school that said she never showed up for her first period class,” said Jemelia’s mother, Sheila Funderburke.

Sheila now stares at a photo of her daughter and constantly asks herself one question; she just wants to know if her daughter is ok.

“To me it’s not a typical runaway because someone else had something to do with it. Every time you hear something you wonder is that her. You hear someone got robbed, you wonder, was that her,” Sheila Funderburke said.

Police said there is no evidence anything happened to Jamelia. But as each day passes by, her mother's message becomes more desperate.

“I miss her,” Shelia Funderburke said.

Jemelia was last seen wearing a pink shirt, jeans, a white baseball hat and pink high heeled tennis shoes.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts should call the Union County Sheriff's Office at 704-283-3789.