HAMMOND — A 15-year-old Hammond girl has been missing more than a week, and her mother just wants her to come home.
Marcia LeVan said her youngest daughter, Taylor LeVan, rode with a friend to the Wal-Mart on 165th Street in the city’s Woodmar section on Feb. 8.
When Taylor didn’t return home that evening, LeVan assumed Taylor was spending the night with the friend and contacted the young woman to tell her to make sure Taylor got to school that Monday.
More Top Picks Best Pellet Stove Vacuums
The friend told LeVan that she left Taylor at the store around 9:30 p.m. because Taylor “said she was going to walk home.”
She never returned, nor has she contacted anyone in her family, LeVan said. She also has not been at school.
LeVan contacted the Hammond Police Department on Wednesday and filed a missing person report on her daughter. She and their family are convinced someone knows something about where she is.
“I’m trying to stay positive, because I’ve run through every awful scenario there is, and I’m making myself crazy,” LeVan said. “And her friends are just as worried about her as we are.
“If she’s out there, I just want her to know she’s so very needed here, and we just want her home safe.”
Hammond public information officer Lt. Richard Hoyda confirmed they are working to find Taylor.
A student at Munster High School, Taylor is 5 feet 10 inches tall with long blond hair and blue eyes. LeVan said she was wearing a peach hooded sweatshirt and bl ack leggings with a pattern on them when she was last seen.
Anyone with information about Taylor should contact the Hammond Police Department Detective Bureau at (219) 852-2906.
Michelle L Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.