BODY FOUND IN LA MESA IDENTIFIED AS EL CAJON TEEN MISSING SINCE FEBRUARY: REWARD OFFERED FOR INFORMATION 15.5K
Total Views: 47 East County News Service November 13, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – The San Diego County Medical Examiner has identified a body found on March 13 in La Mesa as that of Cassidy Hopwood, according to El Cajon Police. Hopwood, an El Cajon resident, was reported missing in February. Both La Mesa and El Cajon Police have listed Hopwood’s age as 17. However, on Facebook, the RAD movement, an organization that helps families locate missing teens, states that she was 16 when she went missing and when she was found dead. The group also leveled criticism at police handling of the case. The RAD Movement page states that the group was in touch with Hopwood’s grandmother and father for months “without any assistance from law enforcement.” RAD movement calls the LMPS and ECPD press releases and social media posts “insensitive and inappropriate at this time,” adding, “The same care, concern and diligence was not shared when Cassidy went missing or when her body was recovered. These posts have only perpetuated further pain for the family.” According to El Cajon police, “At this time, foul play is not suspected and her death is being treated as fentanyl-related.” The ECPD release adds, “Our thoughts are with her loved ones and anyone who has any information on this case is asked to call the La Mesa Police Department at (619)667-1400. “ However, La Mesa Police state that a reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the case. You may also call Crime Stoppers at (888)580-TIPS (www.SDCrimeSToppers.com) to remain anonymous and be eligible for a $1,000 information leading to an arrest in this case. Hopwood had brown hair, brown eyes and a pierced nose. LMPD found the body behind a business in the 7900 block of El Cajon Blvd. The LMPD release, which did not list Hopwood’s name since she was a minor, states that the body had no identifying information and that the Medical Examiner has been working to identify the decedent since then. It is unclear why it took seven months to identity the juvenile reported missing just a few miles from where her body was found. Printer-friendly version
15.5K viewsGIRL, 15, MISSING FROM SPRING VALLEY MAY HAVE BEEN ABDUCTED, FAMILY FEARS 8
Total Views: 72 By Miriam Raftery Photos:f Alena Mitchem, known as Gracie; her hair was dyed green when she was last seen September 29, 2022 (Spring Valley) – The family of 15-year-old Alena “Gracie” Mitchem is asking for public help to find her. She has been missing form her Spring Valley home since late at night on September 22. Gracie has green eyes and brown hair, but her hair was dyed green when she was last seen, according to a listing on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website. She is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 155 pounds. (Note, some flyers had a misspelling. Her first name is Alena.) Her sister, Aleena Christine Jones, posted on Facebook, “We believe she was lured out by someone online via the PlayStation platform…She took important documents that no child would think of…She’s had zero contact with anyone since her disappearance, no social media presence whatsoever… We have to bring her home.… Gracie we love you so much.” Gracie’s mother, Shannon Hoffman, believes her daughter was lured by an adult. She is frustrated with the Sheriff’s initial response treating the matter as a runaway case, and by the lack of media notification, but added that detectives are now checking into the Playstation contacts. “As a mother, I know deep down something is wrong,” she posted, adding that she suspects someone enticed Gracie with a promise of a job, since the family has struggled financially. “I’ve never wanted to ask for help But I am desperate now.,” Hoffman wrote. She is asking the public to share photos of her daughter to help bring her home. If you have any information, call 911, or the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department at (858)565-5200, or call or 1-800-843-5678 (1-900-THE LOST) Printer-friendly version
8 viewsLEMON GROVE TEEN, MISSING SINCE JULY 31, LAST SEEN GETTING INTO CAR WITH MAN 2.1K
Total Views: 38 By Miriam Raftery August 18, 2020 (Lemon Grove) – The Sheriff seeks public help to locate Alonna Wintland. The 15-year-old was last seen leaving her home in the 8000 block of Lemon Grove Way and getting into the car of an unknown man on July 31. She has blonde/purple hair, blue eyes, stands 5 ft. 2 inches tall and weighs around 235 pounds. She was last seen wearing a white shirt, beige shorts and sandals. She has a history of running away, but left without her cell phone or debit card. Deputies have searched places she is known to frequent, as well as hospitals. A missing persons flyer has been created in hopes of expanded the search countywide to help find the missing teen. If you see Alonna Wintland, please call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s non-emergency line at (858) 565- 5200. You can also call the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477 and refer to San Diego Sheriff’s Missing Person Case #20131965. Forward information to Detective Mike Pata (858) 285-6293, Michael.Pata@sdsheriff.org with the Sheriff’s Juvenile Services Group. Printer-friendly version
2.1K viewsTEEN GIRL, 15, MISSING FROM ESCONDIDO SINCE JULY 22 WITH PET SNAKE 3.9K
Total Views: 25 East County News Service August 4, 2017 (Escondido) – Public help is sought to help locating Seraphine Bustillos, a missing Escondido 15-year-old who may have left home with a foot-and-a-half long ball python snake and a black backpack. She has hair dyed black, blue eyes, pierced ears, and is 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 110 pounds. Her family believes she may have met someone on the Internet who lured her away. She was last seen the morning of Saturday, July 22 in the Harmony Grove/Fortuna Del Sur area of Escondido. Many missing teens in the San Diego region fall prey to human traffickers, so Seraphine’s safety could be in danger. If you have any information on her whereabouts, please contact San Diego Sheriff Detective Matt Tomavchak at (760) 510-5200 immediately and mention case number 17138117. You can also leave an anonymous tip by calling Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477. Printer-friendly version
3.9K viewsWITNESS SAYS HE SAW MICKEY GUIDRY THE DAY TEEN VANISHED IN THE ANZA-BORREGO DESERT BACK IN 2009 16
Total Views: 99 By Miriam Raftery August 28, 2016 (Anza-Borrego Desert) – A reader of East County Magazine has come forward to say that he saw Mickey James Guidry , then 16, at the site where the Jeep driven by the teen broke down in the Anza-Borrego Desert over Thanksgiving weekend back in November 2009—just before Mickey went missing The witness says he saw Mickey speaking with a couple who offered him a ride, and showed him a map with possible routes Mickey may have later taken on foot. The Jeep Mickey was driving was found 22-miles along Fish Creek Wash, its tire worn down to the rim and bumper torn off. Mickey’s wallet and ID were left in the Jeep. His cell phone was not working. To this day, nobody knows if he managed to walk out or get a ride and go away voluntarily. East County Magazine was the first media outlet to report on the case nearly three weeks after Mickey was last seen, when the Sheriff first informed media he was missing. Our follow-up coverage also raised questions on early handling of the case by the department’s initial investigator, who assumed Mickey had run away as he had done once before –until the Jeep he’d been driving was found disabled in the desert. Subsequently, intensive searches were launched, but Mickey Guidry was never found. His mother later married Sergeant Don Parker, who headed up the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue department and led those dedicated search efforts. On the first anniversary of Mickey’s disappearance, we spoke with Sgt. Parker, who told us he continues working to find Guidry and several other missing kids. ““They vanish, but they’re not forgotten.” He urged anyone with information to come forward. Now, someone has. Bill Knepper posted the following earlier this month, on one of our early stories about Mickey’s disappearance: “I ran, happened onto this kid when on a solo Jeep trip. He was by himself and talking to a couple in a black TJ Jeep. The women passenger was trying to talk him into a ride out but he did not want to go the way he came in. He refused to go with me also as I was headed toward Fish Creek as they were.” I contacted Knepper by phone and e-mail. He told me that he had only recently heard that Mickey was missing , and posted on our sight after seeing photos of the Jeep Cherokee and Mickey. He said he did not report his sighting to anyone at first, but came forward now to correct what he thinks may be errors in some assumptions made about the teen’s disappearance. He says Mickey was “not carrying anything and was not far from the vehicle.” In an e-mail , he elaborated that he saw the Jeep not far from “Heart Attack Hill” when he saw the teen talking with the couple in a black Jeep. “He said he was alone and that his parents gave him the Jeep,” Knepperrecalled. (In fact Mickey had taken the Jeep without his parents’ permission after his parents refused to allow him to go camping. He was not reported misisng at first because his mother assumed he would come home on his own and his father deployed for Afghanistan around the time Mickey left. Mickey visited a female friend from school, who was camping with her family in the desert. The girl’s family has said they told Mickey to go home and gave him gas money, but he never made it back.) Knepper says the woman he saw in the black Jeep was “trying to talk him into going with them, which was down through Fish Creek. He was reluctant to go back that way. I was not exiting the desert that way, but via the Diablo drop off and Canyon Sin Ombre back to I-8. When I left he was still with them.” He says the woman in the Jeep was “white, heavy set by 25 pounds and had long blond hair, late 30s early 40s. Her companion sat in the driver’s seat looking down as if reading. He was white with long,black hair, 6 inches long.I thought this to be a bit unusual as most people you meet in the outback are pretty friendly. Their Jeep was modestly equipped. No giant tires or huge lift. It had a soft top.” Knepper says he frequently visits the desert, adding, “I have traveled nearly every dirt road” between his home in Spring Valley and Kingman ,Arizona, where he travels on business. Knepper says he showed Mickey a map of where he was in relation to the possible exit points. “I saw him a quarter to a half mile from where his Jeep was, in the opposite direction of where he had been headed. It was before noon.” He adds that there were other people on the trail that day, but not many. He recalls that Mickey’s family had told media that Mickey was very familiar with the desert, so it seemed odd that he would accidentally wind up with a thrashed Jeep in such a remote area. Knepper, who restores Jeeps for a living, had the impression that the Jeep Mickey was driving had been “purposefully stuck. Even with the right front disabled, the rear wheels would have provided some forward movement. He drove it into a hill/embankment and spun the wheels to dig holes.” Knepper thought the vehicle might be stolen. Did Mickey leave with the couple in the black Jeep? Or,perhaps,someone else? Knepper thinks Mickey may have set off on foot. He speculates, ”Because of previous maps of search areas that I saw on the net, I assume he exited north across an untraveled portion of the desert, which may have been the shortest route, but not the smartest choice…Hope this helps.” Mickey’s mother has long contended that she believes her son is alive, somewhere, and hopes he will someday be found safe
16 viewsMISSING TEEN, 14, LAST SEEN IN LA MESA FRIDAY NIGHT 11K
Total Views: 63 Update Oct. 6, 2015 – La Mesa Police report that this missing juvenile has been found with friends in Imperial Beach and has been returned to her family. Update Oct. 4, 2015 1 p.m. – Olivia’s mother confirms that a friend received an Instragram message that appears to be from Olivia. The message indicates she is safe but does not want to come home. It is not certain whether the message was sent by Olivia or possibly by someone with access to her account. East County News Service October 4, 2015 (La Mesa) – Public help is sought to locate Olivia Miller, 14, A Guatay resident who vanished Friday night in La Mesa. She was last seen at 7 p.m. at the Journey Community Church at 8363 Center Drive. According to La Mesa Police dispatch, Olivia is 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighs 110 pounds, has black hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a white baseball cap, black shirt and black pants. She may also have been wearing a white cardigan and carrying a brown backpack, her mother has advised East County Magazine. Olivia’s mother, Sherrie Jockell, says Olivia had a picnic dinner with family at the church before services. An assistant teacher in a class at church, Olivia never made it to class after dinner. Family realized she was missing after the service, when she did not return to their car. Olivia made no mention of going anywhere after church to her friends or family. Jockell says Olivia is a responsible teenager who has never run away, never failed to show up where she is supposed to be, never been out past curfew, never had any known issues with drugs or been in any trouble with the law. Her birthday is coming up and she was talking about what she wants to do, making plans for near future,” she said. Olivia did not have a cell phone with her. She had a tablet computer but it does not have GPS activated. has not been active on her social media accounts since she went missing. She had just returned Tuesday from being out of town for a couple of weeks in Hollister, California helping her sister move, Jockell added. Jockell voiced frustration because she says La Mesa Police have not sought a warrant to gain access to her missing daughter’s social media passwords in order to check and see if she could have been in communication with anyone that could provide a clue to her whereabouts or whether she could have met a potential predator online. “Because there are no signs of foul play, no one saw anyone forcing her into a vehicle, they are treating her like a runaway,” Jockell told East County Magazine, adding that her daughter’s passwords were recently changed. NBC 7 news reports that a countywide be-on-the-lookout bulletin has been issued by police. Family has been passing out flyers around town in hopes of finding the young missing teen. Journey Community Church had posted on Facebook that the teen had been seen later at Grossmont Center, but Jockell says family now believes that was a false lead. After friends and family members canvassed Grossmont Center on Saturday, a clerk at Charlotte Russe said she recognized Olivia and thought she had shopped there on Friday night, however surveillance video did not show Olivia. Olivia has shopped at Charlotte Russe in the past so the clerk may have remembered seeing her on a different date. Oktoberfest was underway not far away in downtown La Mesa, with crowds of people from across the county. Family is hoping that someone has seen Olivia and asks for anyone with any information to please report it. “Our hearts go out to Olivia and her family,” Journey’s post on Facebook states. “Every member of our community feels the weight and the gravity of this situation.” If you have seen her or have any tips on her whereabouts, please contact La Mesa Police department at 619-667-1400 or her family at 619-473-8050 or 619-672-9293. Printer-friendly version
11K viewsSIGHTINGS OF MISSING TEXAS TEEN REPORTED IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY 5K
Total Views: 52 January 9, 2014 (San Diego) – Several recent sightings have been reported of missing 16-year-old Arielle Randall in the San Diego-Carlsbad areas, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Center is asking for public help to locate the missing Texas teen, who may be in the company of an unknown male. Arielle is black and Hispanic, with brown hair and eyes. She is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. She has pierced ears. She was last seen leaving her home in Grand Prairie, Texas on November 13, 2013 and has not been heard from since. Earlier the center reported Arielle may have gone to the Chula Vista area and could be using the last name Padron, her mother’s maiden name. She is believed to be a runaway and bought a ticket for the San Diego area, an investigator in Texas told ECM. If you have seen Arielle or are aware of her current location, call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST. You can remain anonymous. You can download a missing persons flyer and read more about Arielle Randall here: http://www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMC/1226136/1#poster Printer-friendly version
5K views13-YEAR-OLD GIRL MISSING SINCE AUGUST 2.8K
Total Views: 53 October 16, 2013 (Chula Vista) — The Chula Vista Police Department today asked public help to locate a missing / runaway teen. Venicia Ortiz, age 13, was last seen in the 4200 Block of National Avenue in San Diego on or around August 7, 2013. According to police, she did not leave under duress. There has been no evidence to indicate foul play, however, the police are concerned about her well being. She is Hispanic, 5 feet 3 inches tall, weight 150 pounds, with brown eyes and long, black curly hair. She was last seen wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt and dark pants. Download a flyer here. If you see Venicia ORTIZ or know her whereabouts, please call Detective Molina at (619) 691-5178. Refer to case number 13-10841. Printer-friendly version
2.8K viewsNEW DETAILS ON MISSING TEEN ELIZABETH RODRIGUEZ, 16 12.7K
Total Views: 21 August 18, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Elizabeth Rodriguez, 16, of Spring Valley has been missing since August 11. The San Diego Sheriff’s office is treating the case as a runaway, according to Detective Ward at the Lemon Grove Sheriff substation. However her parents have posted flyers asking the public to help locate their daughter, who was last seen Friday, August 11 in Lakeside at 12:45 a.m. When last seen, she was wearing “a black blouse with a big red heart on it, blue skiny jeans and red Converse tennis shoes,” said Detective Ward. Elizabeth has brown eyes and black hair with highlights. “There is no indication of foul play,” he added. If you see Elizabeth Rodriguez, please call the Sheriff’s dispatch at (858)565-5200 and refer to case#11139269 or call 911. Detective Ward indicated it’s important to call those numbers, not his desk number previously published in numerous media accounts. He indicated that a possible sighting of the missing girl came in at midnight on his desk number when no one was there to answer it. “We could have picked her up two days ago if we’d had the right number out to the public,” he told ECM. At any given time, the Sheriff’s office has “a couple hundred kids” reported as runaways. Ward said that in about 80% of cases, the parents call within a few days to say their child has returned, and in most other instances the child is eventually picked up by a law enforcement officer in the field. Printer-friendly version
12.7K viewsMISSING GIRL, 13, LAST SEEN IN EL CAJON 4.8K
Total Views: 27 August 5, 2011 (El Cajon ) – San Diego Police seek help to locate Natasha Martin, 13. She was last seen July 29 in the vicinity of Main Street and Anza Avenue in El Cajon. Natasha, who is African-American, has brown hair and blue eyes. She is 5 feet tall and weighs 130 pounds. Natasha’s family and friends are looking for her. If you have seen her or have information on where she can be found, please call the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000. Printer-friendly version
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