An Alabama couple is desperately trying to locate their 17-year-old son, and they suspect he may be living in Logan County.

Tommy and Donna Barnett of Cullman, Ala. say they think something terrible has happened to their son Jacob.

"He has always been a good boy and never gave us any reason to believe he would up and leave without telling us where he was going," said the parents, who have been traveling extensively the past week searching for him.

According to the Barnetts, their son called them the night he disappeared on Aug. 13 and told them he was going to stay with friends, that he loved them and that he would call them the next day. "That is the last time we heard from him," said the distraught couple.

The couple say they cannot get help on the federal level because their son took a change of clothing with him that night. The Barnetts say the federal authorities say the change of clothes proves he went on his own, which rules out abduction.

The teenager's truck was found abandoned just miles from his home, but the Barnetts say even that didn't get the federal authorities to help.

Local authorities in Alabama, Iowa, and now Logan County have been very helpful, say the Barnetts. "We have been gone from our home for a week now," said Mr. Barnett, "but we heard that our son's story has hit the papers back home and he is even on the Internet."

The couple suspects their son is with his girlfriend and possibly her family, whom the Barnetts say is on the run.

According to the Barnetts, the girlfriend's family left Alabama in the middle of the night, and she had began calling their son from Kentucky right before he disappeared.

After doing some investigation themselves, the Barnetts say they have located the girlfriend's family's furniture in a barn in Logan County, but cannot get any information about their son from the owner.

The couple came to the Russellville Police Department Thursday morning and told of their search. The Logan County Sheriff's Department was called in and the interviewing process is underway.

Jacob James Barnett is 17 years old, weighs approximately 240-250 lbs, is 6 feet two inches in height, has short brown hair, and brown eyes. He has a Southern accent. He is knowledgeable in air conditioning repair and mechanics.

If you have any information about Jacob, please call the Logan County Sheriff's Department at 726-2244 or the Russellville Police Department at 726-7669 or the family at 256-734-4049 or 256-708-3085.