The family of a missing at-risk teen is asking for the public’s help in finding her.
Jaqualine Ramos Espinoza, 14, was last seen during the early-morning hours of May 6 in the 8400 block of Fairton Street in her hometown of Paramount.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said she is considered at risk because of her age and because she has never run away from home before.
She is described as being 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 80 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a white shirt, black and white spotted pajama pants and black and white Converse shoes.
Ring video caught Jaqualine walking in her neighborhood around 3:40 a.m. the day she went missing.
During a news conference Thursday, her parents said they were baffled by her disappearance because she never leaves home without them, not even to go out for a walk.
“Jaqui, it’s your father, we miss you, come home,” her father, Gabriel Espinoza, pleaded.
In Spanish, her mother, Elsa Espinoza, said they are not mad at her and begged her to reach out.
Jaqualine’s parents said the day she went missing was an ordinary one.
She and her mom had gone to the Long Beach Aquarium during the day, and her dad had gotten her a burger for their weekly “cheat day.”
The teen fell asleep watching a movie before she went to bed, and when her mom checked in on her at 1 a.m., she was still in her room. She gave her a kiss on the cheek, Elsa Espinosa recalled.
The following morning, her parents woke up to find her gone.
“I’m just as surprised as everybody else because it’s something that I never in a million years would think that would happen, but it did happen and I just need to get her home,” Gabriel Espinoza said. “I don’t care why she did it, all I care about is just getting her back.”
Authorities said Jaqualine has very limited social media and not even her friends have heard from her. Her phone is disabled and turned off.
Jaqualine is known to frequent nearby malls for beauty products and loves to visit downtown Los Angeles, so authorities have canvased those areas to no avail.
Her family asks anyone who has seen her or has been in contact with her to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lakewood Station at 562-623-3500.
Information can also be submitted anonymously by calling 1-800-222-8477 or by going to lacrimestoppers.org.