Editor's Note: Alinka Angeline Castaneda was found alive April 17, 2023. Click here to read more.
A mother from Carson is living a nightmare after the disappearance of her 16-year-old daughter.
Her daughter left home in January, but a few weeks later she received a phone call that made her fear that she is being kept against her will.
Two months have passed since the teen left home. Her mother says she didn't have many friends, didn't go to parties and was not one to date.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
Alinka Avila left her home in Carson on the morning of Jan. 1 without any identification, without her credit card and without a change of clothes.
Since she left, her cellphone has remained disconnected and her social media accounts have also been disabled.
"Please help me find my daughter before it's too late, please," said Marciela Avila, her mother.
Her mother says she didn't hang out with many friends, but she met a young man two days before her disappearance.
"We thought she had gone with someone but we don't know," Marciela said.
Soon after Alinka left, the family received a phone call which was traced to the Venice area.
"She said 'they have me and they won't let me go,'" Marciela said. "Everything has changed since then, for everyone."
The family has posted thousands of signs with Alinka's picture hoping someone has seen her or knows something.
"Every time I give a sign to a person I ask God that this is the one who will help me find my daughter," Marciela said. "I want her to know that I won't rest until I have her back here with me."
Detectives from the Carson Sheriff's Department are investigating this case as an at-risk youth.
"My heart hurts, but I think they have her working as a prostitute, I think," Marciela said.
The authorities can't confirm if the girl is being sex trafficked. For now, they are asking for any clues on her location.
Alinka has called her family twice and once asked them to pick her up near Union Station but she never showed up. When the family has tried to call the numbers back, they no longer exist.
Anyone with any information on Alinka's whereabouts are asked to contact the Carson Sheriff's Department.
