Hollister
– A missing Hollister girl was found safe in Salinas Thursday
night after police spent nearly three weeks searching for her.
Hollister – A missing Hollister girl was found safe in Salinas Thursday night after police spent nearly three weeks searching for her.
Selina Marie Lopez, 15, was reported missing Dec. 28, the day after she was last seen at her Hollister home. Thursday night, Lopez sent a text message to her mother and asked to be picked up.
Hollister Police Detective Sgt. James Weathers accompanied the girl’s mother, Nora Villa, to pick up her daughter from a Salinas home where she had been staying with friends.
Lopez initially told her mother and police that she had been kidnapped, but later admitted that she had run away and then had been afraid to go home for fear of getting in trouble with the law, police spokeswoman Rosie Betanio said.
The girl’s father, Ricardo Cobian, said he was relieved to have his daughter found safe.
“We were so worried,” he said Friday. “But now she’s home and she’s safe. That’s all that matters.”
Betanio said local police logged more than 80 hours of officer time searching for the girl.
“It’s a relief. We put a lot of hours into this and we’re just glad she was found,” Betanio said.
Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller said that while the department was relieved the girl was found unharmed, she should have notified her parents and police sooner.
“People need to understand that to promote a police response like this puts a strain on the system,” he said. “Especially when people put us in the position of searching and worrying.”
At first, Cobian and his girlfriend, Nora Villa, thought their daughter had just gone off to stay with friends. But after several days without word from their daughter, Cobian and Villa grew increasingly concerned about her safety, Cobian said Thursday. He also said Lopez had been acting “strange” before she left.
Cobian said the family became increasingly worried about Lopez’s safety after not hearing from her for several days.
He said a family friend had attempted to call his daughter’s cell phone several times a week after Lopez went missing. Shortly thereafter the friend received a strange call and heard the words “help” and “mom.” After police learned of the call, they intensified their search.
Cobian previously told the Free Lance his daughter didn’t take anything from their home with her when she left, and even left her 1-year-old son at the home.
Lopez gave a statement to police Friday and was released to the custody of her parents.
Brett Rowland covers Hollister for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 332 or [email protected].
