Missing Teen Girl Was 'Talking To Older Guys On Facebook', Say Parents

UPDATE 2/9/24 3:55 P.M. PST: Fantastic news! Alicia Anderson has been found!

The Cary Police confirmed to The US Sun on Friday the 16-year-old has been found safe after being missing for three weeks. Like a miracle!

According to her mom Ashley Anderson, the cops located her in Raleigh, only a 20-minute drive east from her home in Cary. No further details on her disappearance have been provided. We’re just happy she’s home — far too many of these cases end much more tragically.

Oof. The parents of a 16-year-old in North Carolina are going through a nightmare scenario right now.

Alicia Anderson was last seen back on January 19, leaving her home at around 4:30 p.m. — as seen on the family’s Ring camera.

Alicia Anderson Missing Ring Camera — (c) Cary Police Department/Facebook

As the Cary Police Department wrote in their press release on Friday, Alicia is “a 16-year-old white female of Asian descent who was last seen leaving her home on Westover Hills Drive on Friday, January 19th, 2024. They added details such as:

“Alicia is 5 feet 3 inches tall and was last seen wearing red and black plaid pajama pants with a black hoodie and carrying a pink backpack. She often wears a rosary similar to the one pictured.”

Alicia’s parents, Michael Sullivan and Ashley Anderson-Sullivan, opened up to The US Sun about what was going on before her disappearance — and it sounds a worrisome, to say the least.

The teen’s cell phone had been broken in November, and her parents hadn’t bought her a new one — but police had some alarming news for them. Her friends from school told them Alicia had managed to get her hands on an older one, which she kept secret from her parents. They couldn’t check what she was doing on it, and well… Ashley told the outlet:

“They said that she had been talking to older guys on Facebook.”

Prior to that, the concerned mom said, she’d only had two boyfriends, and she hadn’t mentioned anyone lately. They apparently spoke all the time, including the night before she vanished. She recalled:

“She laid on my bed and was talking about how stressful her exams, work, stuff like that. She wanted to know if she could stay the night with her friend. And I said, ‘Yes, that’s fine. Just make sure you text me, you know, so I know you’re OK,’ and things like that.”

But instead of riding the bus home from school with her friend, Alicia snuck home for about 20 minutes, during which she packed some things into a bag. She walked out the door and hasn’t been seen since. Michael expressed how hard not knowing is hitting them:

“It’s a lot on everybody and not knowing what’s going on – has she been taken? Is she being held against her will? Is she a runaway? That’s the worst worst part, not knowing what level this is at.”

Such an unimaginably stressful time for parents…

Anyone with information is being asked to contact Crimestoppers at www.p3tips.com/1242 for anonymous reporting options or call (919) 460-4636.

[Image via Cary Police Department/Facebook.]