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Where is Alora? Reward Offered After Teen Goes Missing With Murder Suspects

Alora Benitez was last seen at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 16, in Torrance leaving with her mother and another man.

A reward is now being offered for information leading to the arrest of two murder suspects who were last seen with a 15-year-old girl who has been missing for 18 days.

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Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Two suspects in a murder were on the run, and the woman's 15-year-old daughter was last seen with the pair in the Torrance area April 16, 2019.

Alora Benitez is believed to be with her mother, Maricela Mercado, and another man, Roman Cerratos, who are both wanted in the murder of a man who was discovered slain in a bloodied car in Carson weeks before. 

Cerratos and Mercado are considered armed and dangerous. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced the $20,000 reward after the three disappeared April 16, and haven't been seen since. 

The car the trio was traveling in, 2013 four-door BMW sedan, with Nevada license plate "MARIMAR," was discovered near a major border crossing in San Diego County Friday, April 19. 

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Despite an Amber Alert and emergency alert sent days after the girl was seen getting in the car with her mother and Cerratos, no one has reported spotting them since.

The BMW was discovered in the area of San Ysidro, but no one was inside, officials said. Alora's father said he fears they may be in Mexico. 

Homicide investigators were on scene to examine the sedan. 

Benitez is 5-feet 2-inches tall, weighing 100 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Investigators could not provide a description of the outfit she was last seen in. 

Cerratos and Mercado are considered suspects in the slaying of a man who was found dead Tuesday in the front seat of a white Audi.

The car, streaked with blood, was found parked in the 400 block of East Carson Plaza Drive, the sheriff's department said. 

Anyone who spots Benitez should call 9-1-1 immediately.

Jeffery Appel, 32, was found dead in the bloodied Audi in Carson April 16, the day the suspects and Alora were last seen in Los Angeles County. The cause of death has not yet been determined. 

Anyone with information on where the trio may be is asked to call sheriff's Homicide Detectives Lawler or Blagg at (323) 890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

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