The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and family members asked for help on Wednesday to track down a 19-year-old woman who has been missing for more than a month.
Nayeli Rodriguez, also known as Nayeli Rodriguez-Espain, was last seen the morning of May 21 in the 1100 block of East Florence Avenue, in the Florence neighborhood of South Los Angeles, according to a sheriff’s bulletin.
Family members haven’t heard from Rodriguez since noon that day, when she spoke with her mother over the phone. Relatives in Mexico also have been unable to contact her, sheriff’s officials said.
There’s been no activity on her cellphone or social media accounts since she vanished, investigators added.
At a news conference Wednesday, family members pleaded for the missing woman’s safe return.
“Nayeli, if you’re seeing this, please call us, anything, just come home,” Rodriguez’s sister said through tears.
Rodriguez is close to her family, helping support her mother financially by going door-to-door and to shopping center parking lots to sell various items in South L.A. She had anticipated attending community college this fall, and her disappearance is totally out of character, according to detectives.
Homicide investigators have not ruled out foul play in the case.
“She’s never been missing before. She’s never been in trouble, and again, by all accounts, she is a hard worker, going to be a student and is very close to her family. So not speaking to her family for this length of time is extremely concerning,” sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Dean said at the news conference.
Rodriguez is described as Hispanic, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, weighing about 130 pounds, with brown eyes and long, wavy brown hair, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
She was last seen wearing a short-sleeved blue T-shirt, black leggings and black shoes, and had a black backpack with green decorations.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Sheriff’s Department’s Missing Persons Unit at 323-890-5500.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 800-222-8477, through the “P3 Tips” mobile app, or by going to the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
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