A 15-year-old girl who became the focus of a search involving more than 100 law enforcement officers in Lakewood says she has no idea how she ended up at a Walmart Supercenter more than five hours after she went missing.
“We are still treating it as a possible abduction until we find something that discounts that,” said Steve Davis, Lakewood police spokesman.
Angelina San Andres ended the frantic search within minutes after an Amber Alert was issued by calling police from the Walmart at 440 Wadsworth Blvd. to let them know she was safe.
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Police had deemed her disappearance suspicious after her phone was found 300 yards from her home in Kent Knutson Park. Her backpack was found in her front yard.
San Andres, who attends Lakewood High School, 9700 W. 8th Avenue, was last seen around 7:15 a.m. in the 12100 block of West Nevada Drive.
She was waiting for her brother to pick her up for school when she disappeared, Davis said. Her mother called 911 after she found the backpack, he said.
San Andres has been taken to the Lakewood police station to be interviewed, he said.
Officers from several law enforcement agencies including Lakewood police, the FBI, Colorado State Patrol and Jefferson and Elbert counties converged on the park to search for Andres. Crime scene tape ringed the park as law enforcement officers canvassed a one-square mile area. A police canine also helped with the search and crime scene techs also processed her brother’s car in a high school parking lot.
Police were concerned about San Andres’ safety because they found her phone and backpack.
“We are concerned about her safety. She is missing and we found property that we would expect her to have with her,” Sgt. Randy McNitt, Lakewood police spokesman, said in the early hours of the search. “We’re working it as more than a runaway right now until we get other indications.”
San Andres does not have a history of running away from home and didn’t arrive at school Monday morning.
In many run-away cases, a child would have an argument with parents or some precipitating event, McNitt said.
“That’s not what we’re dealing with here. This is not usual behavior for her. We are treating it far more seriously than a typical missing person’s case,” he said.
