For Roberta Burns, two months of sleepless nights ended Monday with a phone call that police had picked up her missing son walking aimlessly along Jeff Davis Avenue.

Now the worry about whether he is still alive is over, but the heartache continues unabated.

Jon Gary, 17, had been missing since June 23, when he packed a bag and walked out of his mother’s life. No reason, no hug, no last goodbye. He simply left one day without telling her.

She reported him missing to police. She asked The Times-Journal and radio station WHBB if they would let people know that he was missing. She posted flyers in local businesses with his picture, asking people to call if they had seen him.

Then she waited.

Burns credits the phone calls and the visits from old classmates at Selma High School and co-workers at Dunn Nursing Home with helping her through the worst times. &uot;They went that extra mile for me,&uot; she says.

Not everyone came to extend a helping hand, though.

Burns readily acknowledges that Jon has been in trouble with authorities for much of his young life. &uot;This boy has done so much,&uot; she sighs.

He has been &uot;in and out&uot; of boot camp for numerous juvenile offenses. At the time of his disappearance, he was attending the Community Intensive Treatment for Youth program, which seeks to reintegrate troubled students into the regular school system. Currently, he is being held in the Hale County Juvenile Detention Center.

According to his mother, it is the fifth time he has been locked up.

As relieved as she was to know that her son was safe, Burns says he appeared &uot;nonchalant&uot; toward her at their initial meeting after police picked him up.

She adds that he refused to say much about where he had been or how he had managed to survive for the last two months. She believes that someone provided Jon with food and a place to stay, although she cannot say for certain.

Roberta Burns prays that the barrier between her and her son will somehow be removed, that he will soften his heart toward her. She prays, too, that she doesn’t lose him for good next time.