A 17-year-old California girl who vanished shortly after allegedly texting her mother about a man talking to her from a car as she walked home from school has been found safe, the Alhambra Police Department said.
The department put out an alert for Emily Suarez after she disappeared Wednesday morning. Surveillance footage showed her walking along the street toward home after a morning class shortly after 10 a.m., ABC 7 reported.
Police said Suarez was found in the Inland Empire, to the east of Alhambra, on Thursday. ABC 7 reported that investigators believe she was not abducted.
“It is my understanding that she is safe and generally in a good condition,” said Alhambra Police Cmdr. Gabriel Ponce.
The police department said Suarez “is currently with our detectives and we are investigating the circumstances of her disappearance.” Further details were unavailable.
Suarez’s uncle told ABC 7 that the last time she was heard from was the text message to her mother about the man she said was talking to her from a car. At the time, Emily was returning home from a morning class at the school.
“That is a cause for great concern,” police Sgt Steven Carr said. “Typically, adolescent missing persons fall into a runaway category. … In this case, what’s troubling for us is we have not found concrete evidence that Emily has run away.”
Carr said investigators have spoken with her boyfriend, who was in class when she disappeared and has not heard from her.
ABC 7 said Suarez is about 5 feet tall with brown hair and eyes and was last seen wearing a baby blue sweater, green tank top, and blue jeans. She also has a small heart tattoo on a ring finger.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Alhambra police at (626) 570-5151 or (626) 570-5157.
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