Hollister
– Police are intensifying their search for a missing Hollister
girl this week after the girl’s family reported they received a
garbled cell phone call and heard the words
”
mom
”
and
”
help.
”
Hollister – Police are intensifying their search for a missing Hollister girl this week after the girl’s family reported they received a garbled cell phone call and heard the words “mom” and “help.”
Police said Thursday that 15-year-old Selina Marie Lopez was reported missing Dec. 28, the day after she was last seen at her Hollister home. Hollister Police Department spokeswoman Rosie Betanio said detectives were following up on several leads, including getting a warrant to trace the girl’s cell phone calls.
Her father, Ricardo Cobian, said the girl had no history of running away. He said a family friend had attempted to call his daughter’s cell phone several times Thursday, after which they received a strange call.
“You could hear static and ‘help me,'” Cobian said. “It was crazy, like something out of a movie.”
At first, Cobian and his girlfriend, Nora Villa, thought the girl 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.
“It was like something wasn’t right,” Cobian said.
He said he has recruited the help of the Polly Klaas Foundation and several local churches in the search for Lopez.
“Everybody is hoping and praying that she is all right,” he said. “We’re worried.”
Cobian said his daughter didn’t take anything from their home with her when she left.
“She took nothing, not her cell phone charger or clothes, nothing,” he said.
Cobian said his daughter even left her 1-year-old son at the home.
Betanio said police are worried about the girl’s safety.
“We’re following up on every lead we have,” she said. “Our main concern is that she is found safe.”
Lopez attended San Andreas Continuation School and was a good student, Cobian said.
“She has never left like this without telling us where she was going,” he said.
Anyone with information about Lopez is urged to contact the Hollister Police Department at 636-4330 or the Polly Klaas Foundation toll-free at 1-800-587-4357.
Brett Rowland can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 332 or br******@fr***********.com.
