Family pleads for help to find missing teen last seen in Paramount

LOS ANGELES - Family members are asking for help to locate a teenager who went missing over the weekend in Paramount. 

Jaqualine Ramos Espinoza, 14 was last seen around 1 a.m. Saturday in her bedroom at home in the 8400 block of Fairton Street, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Her family realized around 8 a.m. that she was gone.

There was no sign of foul play, with all indications suggesting the girl left voluntarily, officials said. Authorities said a Ring camera at a neighbor's home captured footage of the girl walking in the area around 3:30 a.m. She was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and black-and-white pajama pants and black-and-white Converse shoes.

Sheriff's officials said the girl has no prior history of running away, and combined with her age, they consider her to be an at-risk missing person.

Her parents pleaded for help finding her.

"This is not your fault, sweetheart, please come home," the girl's mother, Elsa Espinoza said at a news conference outside the Lakewood Sheriff's Station. "Please come home to momma. We are waiting for you. Your cat is waiting for you. ... If anyone has my Jaqui against her will, please release her. Return our baby."

Espinoza is described as a 5-foot, 3-inch tall Latino girl weighing 80 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes with braces.

"I'm just as surprised as everybody else because it's something that I never in a million years would think would happen, but it did happen and I just need to get her home," Gabriel Espinoza said. "... All I care about is getting her back."

The sheriff's Lakewood station urged anyone with any information regarding the teen's whereabouts to call them at 562-623-3500. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477) or use a smartphone by downloading the "P3 Tips" Mobile APP on Google play or the Apple App Store or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org