The family of a Boyle Heights teenager is pleading with the public and police to help locate a 15-year-old girl who went missing earlier this month.
Michelle Giselle Lopez hasn’t been seen or heard from by her family since Oct. 12 and her loved ones are desperate for answers and her safe return. She was last seen leaving Downtown Magnets High School.
“My mom was already there picking up my little brother and they told her that she was no longer there,” said Nataly Jaqueline Arias, the missing teen’s sister.
According to Lopez’s family, the teenager is a sophomore at Downtown Magnets High School. On the day she went missing, she attended every class.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
“She’s not a kid to go out and explore on her own,” Arias said. “It’s very unlikely that she’d not contact even her brother to let him know, ‘Hey I’m OK.’”
In recent days, a few people reported possible sightings of Lopez. However, the girl’s family remains without answers. Her disappearance has taken a toll on her loved ones.
“The emotions of not knowing where she is if she’s being human trafficked or held against her will or not knowing where to look -- it’s draining,” said Jessica Velasquez, Lopez’s oldest sister.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
“We just ask that wherever she is, or whoever has her, just let her come home because this is not like my little sister,” Arias said. “She would want to be home.”
Lopez is described as 5-foot-3-inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes and a distinct gas on her forehead.
