Indiana State Police have confirmed the disappearance of 14-year-old Emily Barger and issued a silver alert for her disappearance. The Floyd County Indiana Sheriff’s Department is investigating what happened to Barger.
She is described as a white female, 5 feet tall, 85 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. It is unknown when she was last seen.
Barger is from Georgetown, Indiana, 5 miles northwest of Louisville, Ky., and 120 miles south of Indianapolis. She was last seen Monday at 1 a.m.
Authorities said “she would be in extreme danger”, but the alert did not elaborate on the reason or nature of the danger.
Police have asked the public for help in locating Barger and said anyone with information should contact the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department at 812-948-5400 or 911.
On Tuesday, Barger’s father, Shawn Barger, took to social media to ask for help locating his daughter. He said she might be in an “old [possibly] Chevy truck with loud exhaust and rusty bodywork.”
On his Facebook, Shawn Barger also posted a message directly to his daughter.
He wrote: “Emily Barger if you can see this in any way please come home you have no problem and I love and miss you very much. You have tons of family and friends looking for you and wanting to take you home. gas station anywhere and tell them you have to go home, call the police or me or whoever, please go home, I love you.”
Newsweek contacted the Indiana State Police Department via email for comment.
An estimated 2,300 children go missing every day in the United States, according to a report by Child Find of America.
The report says children can go missing for many reasons, including misunderstanding, running away or being kicked out, getting lost, being stranded or injured, family abduction and stranger abduction.
The National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART) program uses these five categories to identify why a child may have been reported missing.
Regarding children who run away or are deported, he said: “Runaway cases occur when a child 14 years of age or younger leaves the home without permission for at least one night.
“For older children, a runaway is defined as a child who stays outside for at least two nights. Rejection episodes occur when a parent or other adult in the household tells a child to leave the house without arranging alternative care and prevents the child from returning home.”
