Authorities in California are intensifying their search for a 19-year-old woman, Andrea Vasquez, who was reportedly abducted from a park in Whittier, CA early Sunday morning. According to reports from the Whittier Police Department and Vasquez’s family, the young woman was with her boyfriend in the parking area of Penn Park when an armed individual approached their vehicle and opened fire.
Vasquez’s boyfriend managed to escape the gunfire, but when he returned to the scene, he found traces of blood near his vehicle and Vasquez was nowhere to be found. The incident occurred shortly after midnight on Sunday, sparking a desperate search for the missing woman.
Edlyn Vasquez, Andrea’s sister, has taken to social media to appeal for public assistance in locating her sibling. In a Facebook post, she revealed that Andrea was shot and kidnapped at Penn Park, and her last known location was in Moreno Valley. She urged anyone with information to come forward and help in the search.
Emily Martinez, a relative of Vasquez living in Las Vegas, told reporters that the last signal from Vasquez’s phone was detected in the Moreno Valley area, roughly 50 miles east of Whittier Park. Martinez expressed her fear for Vasquez’s safety but remained hopeful that she would be found safe.
Vasquez, who stands 5-foot-3 and weighs 103 pounds, was last seen wearing a black long-sleeve crop top, khaki pants, and black low-top Converse shoes. She has a tattoo of her sister’s name, Edlyn, on the back of her neck, an Aries constellation on her right hand, and a belly button piercing.
The Whittier Police Department is urging anyone with information about Vasquez’s whereabouts to contact their detectives or the tipline.