By Brad Segall

WEST WHITELAND TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) — Authorities in Chester County are asking for help from the public as they try to locate a teenager who walked away from a group home earlier this week.

West Whiteland police say 16-year-old Brandon Eckert was last seen at the residence around 5:30am Tuesday morning.  He’s been diagnosed as mentally impaired, and has other mental health disorders which require medication which he hasn’t taken since he left the home on King Road.

Detective Scott Pezick says they have been searching for the teen by ground and by air.

“We believe he may have walked into a wooded area near that residence which he was familiar with, but if he were to walk into that area, it’s fairly dense — something could have happened in there,” Pezick tells KYW Newsradio.

Eckert (right and above) is about 5′ 7″ tall and weighs 200 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing faded jeans, socks, and glasses.

Pezick says a sweatshirt belonging to Eckert was found near the wooded area. He has family in York County, Pa.