May 20, 2009 10:32 pm US/Eastern
Best Says He's Not Traveling With Missing Teen
Police Say Hausers May Be Heading To Mexico
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Billy Best (1994 photo) Massachusetts cancer victim who ran away from home rather than undergo chemotherapy.
AP
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Billy Best (1994 photo) Massachusetts cancer victim who ran away from home rather than undergo chemotherapy.
AP
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Daniel Hauser (file image)
CBS
The search for a Minnesota teenager with cancer who's on the run with his mother has led authorities to the west coast.
Minnesota officials said Wednesday night that investigators have reason to believe 13-year-old Daniel Hauser and his mother Colleen may be
heading to Mexico.
Authorities say Hauser and his mother ran away to avoid chemotherapy, and earlier it was believed they may have been traveling with a Massachusetts man who did the same thing more than a decade ago.
While officials had said earlier that
Billy Joe Best of East Bridgewater may be traveling with Hauser, the now 31-year-old cancer survivor told CBS by phone Wednesday night he is not with the Hausers and is currently in Boston.
Best, who lives in Somerville, has said he would help the Hausers, but he insists he doesn't know where they are.
"I just want to help this kid. I feel like everyone is ganging up on him," Best said.
The Hausers allegedly fled New Ulm, Minn., after a court-ordered medical exam showed his Hodgkin's lymphoma had worsened. Doctors say with radiation and chemo treatment the condition is 90 percent curable.
A judge ruled last week that Daniel's parents were medically neglecting him, issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for Colleen Hauser and ruled her in contempt of court.
The judge also ordered that Daniel be placed in foster care and immediately evaluated by a cancer specialist for treatment.
Read: Minnesota Coverage of Hauser Case
In 1994, 16-year-old Best ran away to avoid having more chemotherapy to fight his Hodgkin's disease.
He returned after three weeks in Houston when his parents promised they would not force him to have the treatments.
Best has claimed his cancer was cured by natural remedies.
Billy's mother, Sue, of East Bridgewater, told WBZ the Hauser's lawyer called her, looking for Billy's help. "Daniel's lawyer called me and I referred them to Billy. I gave them his number and they wanted to fly him out there to talk."
When asked about Hauser's mother, she said, "She was afraid the judge was going to order chemotherapy to be forced on her child. I can relate to that feeling. I might have run myself back then if that happened to us."
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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