Authorities in Arizona are seeking for the public’s help in finding a missing teenage girl.
On Sunday, November 2, officials in Mesa, Arizona, issued a statewide red alert for Yolyn Hermios, 16. The City of Mesa Police Department issued an alert for the missing and endangered teen, along with a photo of her, on Facebook.
Mesa police say Hermios was last seen around 6:50 p.m. local time on Saturday, Nov. 1, near Broadway Rd. and Dobson Rd. “She has not been seen or heard from since,” an earlier notice for the teen stated. “Family is concerned for her welfare since it is out of character for her to be gone for an extended period of time.”
The Pacific Islander teenager was last seen wearing red shorts, a black blouse, and black shoes, according to the warning. She has brown hair with “green faded highlights” and brown eyes. She stands four feet, eleven inches tall and weighs 110 pounds.
Four hours after the alert was issued, a representative for the Mesa Police Department told PEOPLE, “I do not have any updates at this time.”
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS), turquoise alerts are intended to “locate the missing endangered person through efficient information dissemination and communication that results in the safe and expedient recovery.”
The scheme is also known as “Emily’s Law,” after 14-year-old Emily Pike, who went missing from a Mesa, Arizona, group home in January. She was discovered dismembered in trash bags near the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation a month later.
Emily’s Law was enacted “to honor and memorialize the life” of Pike, a San Carlos Apache Tribal member, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety website.
Turquoise alerts are issued when an endangered individual fits certain requirements. According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety website, they must be “under the age of 65” and “the law enforcement agency investigating the missing person report has used all available local resources.”
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the individual must have “gone missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances,” and the agency investigating their disappearance must have determined that they are not a “runaway as the only reason they went missing,” unless there is evidence they are “missing and endangered due to aggravating factors.”
Authorities must also believe that the individual is in danger, “in the company of a potentially dangerous person,” or is otherwise at risk.
Another requirement for the warning is “there is information that, if disseminated to the public, could assist in the safe recovery of the missing person.”
