Have you seen them?

Maria Gomez-Perez
Gainesville, GA

UPDATE (July 25, 2024)

12 year old Maria Gomez-Perez, whose disappearance in May galvanized a Georgia community, was found 600 miles away in Dover, Ohio, with a 34 year old man she met online, law enforcement officials announced Thursday.

According to the Hall County Sheriff's Office, the break in the case came last week when Maria's father, Andres Gomez, received a direct message from a new Facebook account belonging to Maria. She allegedly stated she was OK and asked her father to stop looking for her. Gomez notified authorities, who tracked the IP address to a phone number associated to a home in Dover, a town of about 13,000 people in Northeast Ohio.

Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said Maria communicated via social media with Antonio Agustin, a Guatemalan national, and other older men and expressed unhappiness and a desire to leave home. Investigators believe Agustin drove to Maria's house in Gainesville, 50 miles north of Atlanta, on May 29, picked her up, and drove back to Dover. 

​At the time, authorities faced criticism for not issuing an Amber Alert, stating Maria's disappearance didn't meet the criteria.

​This week, investigators traveled to Dover and spotted Maria at a community swimming pool. They later took Agustin into custody and recovered the 12-year-old, according to HCSO.

​Agustin is facing a rape charge in Tuscarawas County and is also facing criminal charges in Georgia.

Couch said what happened to Maria is an example of the danger children face online and urged parents to be vigilant about who their kids are communicating with on social media. ​

"Let me be very clear on this: Maria is the victim in this case," Couch said. "Remember, she's 12 years old."

What happened to Maria Gomez-Perez?

Maria Gomez-Perez, 12, seemingly vanished without a trace from her home in Gainesville, GA, about 50 miles north of Atlanta, on May 29, 2024.

Andres Gomez, a single father from Guatemala and his daughter Maria came to the U.S. several years ago and settled in Gainesville. He told reporters he left for work early on May 29, and that his daughter, brother, and a young boy who lives with them stayed behind. The boy was reportedly the last to see Maria standing in the driveway around 10 a.m.

According to the local Univision station, the boy told Gomez that Maria was on her phone and changed her clothes before leaving. Gomez said his brother didn't realize Maria had left.

Maria, a student at Lyman Elementary, wasn't reported missing until the next day. According to local media reports, when Gomez returned home from work he asked if anyone had seen Maria, and looked for her on his own before contacting the Hall County Sheriff's Office. Maria's disappearance didn't meet the criteria for an Amber Alert, and as often happens with missing juveniles, authorities automatically assumed Maria had run away. 

Community-led searches over the last few weeks have turned up empty. The HCSO says they've received dozens of tips of possible sightings of Maria in Texas, South Carolina, Maryland, Florida, Illinois, and Alabama. Local businesses are offering a combined $50,000 reward for information that leads to Maria's whereabouts.

Maria is 5'3, weighs 100-110 pounds, and has long black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a bright blue shirt. According to media reports, the Guatemalan consulate office in Atlanta has been unable to contact Maria's mother. HCSO is not dismissing the possibility that Maria may be in Guatemala.

Anyone with information should call the HCSO Special Investigation Unit tip line at 770-503-3232 or by email at [email protected].

Brigyth Odalis Chisaguano
Philadelphia, PA

16-year-old Brigyth Odalis Chisaguano disappeared in Philadelphia, PA on June 1, 2024.

According to information from the Philadelphia Police 25th District, Brigyth was last seen at around noon on the 600 block of W. Bristol Street, a residential neighborhood.

​This is the type of missing person case that is frustrating given that few details are available from the police, and an online search of media coverage turned up zero results. There is no information on Brigyth's family, what school she attends, or the circumstances of her disappearance. There are no updates available from the Philadelphia Police, but she is still listed as "missing" on their website.

Brigyth is 4’9 and 120 lb. She has brown eyes, black hair, and was last seen wearing a blue shirt, red pants and red/white shoes.

Anyone with any information on Brigyth’s whereabouts is asked to contact East Detectives at 215-686-3243.

Tabitha Queen
Bastrop, LA

29-year-old Tabitha Queen, mother of three, was last seen on surveillance video at a supermarket near her home in Bastrop, LA, on May 10, 2021.

According to local media reports, Tabitha left her three children home alone while she made a quick trip to the store. Surveillance video from a Save-U-More grocery shows Tabitha at the checkout register before exiting the store carrying several bags. 

What happened to Tabitha after leaving the store is still a mystery. Her mother, Mary Lunford, lives in San Antonio, Texas. She told reporters Tabitha called her on Monday, May 10 to wish her a belated happy Mother's Day. During the call, Lunford says she heard two men in the background and asked Tabitha who she was talking to. Tabitha replied, "Uh, mom, I got to go," and hung up. Lunford said she called her back, but it went straight to voicemail.

Lunford reported her daughter missing the next day. On May 12, police found Tabitha's car abandoned on West Pine Street in Bastrop. Surveillance video from a nearby business shows a black man parking the vehicle and walking away.

​According to local media reports, Tabitha's 11-year-old daughter told investigators that she saw her mother arguing with a man she had loaned her car to a few days before she disappeared.

Bastrop Police say they have a person of interest in the case but no suspects.

​Tabitha was last seen wearing pink pants and a cartoon character jacket. She is 5'4 and at the time weighed 230 lb. 

Anyone with information on Tabitha Queen’s disappearance should call Bastrop Police at 318-281-1322 or North Delta Regional Crime Stoppers at 318-388-2274.

Kierra Coles
Chicago, IL

​26-year-old Kierra Coles, a U.S. Postal worker in Chicago, was three months pregnant when she vanished on Oct. 2, 2018.

Kierra's mother, Karen Phillips, told local media she reported her daughter missing on Oct. 4.

​Thanks to surveillance video from multiple locations, detectives pieced together a timeline of Kierra's final moments before she disappeared, and they now need the public's help to find the missing piece that will help them solve this case.

​One video shows Kierra carrying groceries to her apartment on the 8100 Block of South Vernon and a man they call a person of interest, arriving shortly after. Hours later, a separate video shows Kierra and the man driving off in her car with the expectant mother behind the wheel, according to Chicago police.

​Surveillance video from a Walgreens on 8600 S Cottage Grove shows Coles withdrawing money from an ATM at approximately 10:43 pm, the last known images of Kierra, according to investigators.

An hour later, detectives say surveillance video shows Kierra's car arriving at a different part of the city and the man exiting the passenger side at 11:45 pm. No one exits the driver's side. The man gets into his own car and drives off. ​Detectives say the same man drove Kierra's car back to her apartment the next day and walked out with some unknown items before driving away in his car that was parked on another street.

Courtesy: Chicago PD

​According to local media reports, although police have not publicly named the person of interest, Kierra's family identified him as Josh Simmons, Kierra's boyfriend at the time and the alleged father of her unborn child.

​Phillips told local media, Simmons was with her as police searched Kierra's apartment on Oct. 4. Detectives said he gave conflicting information and has since stopped cooperating with the investigation.

Kierra Cole is still considered a missing person. Anyone with information should contact Chicago Police at 833-408-0069 or 312-746-7330 or online at CPDtip.com. You can watch Chicago PD's coverage of this case here.

Monique Rivera and Andre Bryant
Brooklyn, NY

Monique Rivera was a loving mother of three boys. 

The 22-year-old and her partner, Timothy Bryant, lived with their children in Brooklyn, NY. ​

At about 2 p.m. on the afternoon of March 29, 1989, Monique went shopping with two female acquaintances who convinced her to bring six-week-old Andre along. Monique left her other sons, ages 4 and 7, in the care of her sister. She left, got into a burgundy Pontiac Grand Am with Maryland plates, and never returned.

​The next day, a jogger found Monique's body at the bottom of a wooded embankment in the Bronx. She had been struck in the head and strangled with a scarf. Baby Andre was nowhere to be found.

​Authorities believe the two females targeted Monique for her baby. Some news reports say Monique may have known one of the women from middle school, but no one truly knows. According to local news reports, while Monique was out for a walk with her boys the day before, on March 28, the two women drove up to her, got out of the car, and started a conversation. Both reportedly showed great interest in Andre. The women took Monique and the kids to McDonald's and then shopping for clothes.

At the time, the suspects were described as a black woman in her mid-30s and possibly a black or Hispanic woman with red hair between 22-25 years old. The latter is who Monique may have known from school.  

​There's a chance that Andre is still alive and unaware of his true identity. He would be 35 years old now.

​Anyone with information on this case should contact the New York Police Department at 212-694-7781 or 1-800-THE-LOST.

Dulce Ramos
​Lakewood Township, NJ

14-year-old Dulce Ramos, a resident of Lakewood Township, NJ, mysteriously vanished on Aug. 18, 2008. 

This is another case where minimal information is available. Dulce was last seen at her home, but nothing is known about the events leading to her disappearance. Her case did not receive media coverage, and is not featured on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website. However, Dulce is still listed as missing on the NJSP website.

Dulce was 5'2 and 125 lb. at the time of her disappearance. She has black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on Dulce Ramos can call the New Jersey State Police, Missing Persons Unit at 609-882-2000, extension x2554. ​