Missing 16-year-old girl found alive after months– her family thought she ran away but the truth was very different

Having a loved one go missing has to be one of the most harrowing feelings ever. Especially when you have no idea what could have happened to them. This family lost their 16-year-old but thankfully they have now been reunited.

Where she was in the past few months she went missing is haunting…

A Los Angeles County teenager named Alinka Castaneda went missing on January 1st, 2023. She has been missing since then with her family having no idea where the teenage girl went.

She was last seen leaving her family’s home in Carson, California. Officials stated that she was last seen “entering an unknown vehicle” on South Carodale Avenue at 5 a.m. that day.

READ MORE

• Two siblings kidnapped from Missouri found in Florida grocery store nearly a year later

• Father spots man trying to kidnap little girl – what happens next is shocking

• Woman kidnapped as a toddler reunited with family 51 years later – her words brings tears to your eyes

Footage obtained from a doorbell camera showed a man walking toward Castaneda moments before she disappeared. ¨

While initially, her family suspected the young woman had run away, they soon began thinking that something more sinister might be at play. This happened when they received distressed phonecalls from the teenager.

“In this phone call, she actually shared with her sister and her mom that she didn’t know where she was then and wouldn’t be allowed to leave. She sounded like she was under duress and stressing out,” Moses Castillo, a retired detective and a private investigator working on the case, told the news. 

He also added that one adult male was a suspect for the kidnapping but did not release any further information apart from that.

Castaneda was listed as a “critical missing juvenile,” by the police who asked for the public’s help in locating her and citing “concern for her well-being.”  

A $100,000 reward was offered for any details which led to her recovery and the arrest of those responsible for her disappearance.

Authorities have not yet made any statements about her the condition Castaneda was in at the time of her recovery or whether any arrests have been made in relation with her case. However, it has been reported that the young girl has been reunited with her family.

We hope the family is able to heal from this ordeal. What a scary experience to have undergone. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Castaneda family.