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  (Photo: courtesy LAPD)
  Police sketch of the alleged victim and her attacker.

Los Angeles police have been busy combing a section of the city after a report was filed claiming a teenage girl was kidnapped on Monday night. Police believe they have a credible witness and have begun searching, though it was temporarily stopped late Monday night.

A caller told police that they had seen a young girl of at least 13 in an argument with a man slightly older. That's when things turned physical, Lt. Andy Neiman told the Associated Press.

"That argument escalated to the point where the male struck the female at least once in the face and then began to drag her up into the brush area by her hair," he explained.

Other witnesses decided to follow the couple in order to see what was happening, and reported that the young man began to remove some of the girl's clothing. Police later found a girl's leggings and tennis shoes but have not confirmed whether or not they belong to the alleged victim.

"My hope is that this was a dispute that was resolved in some way, but we have to treat everything like it's the real deal," Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference.

So far no reports of a missing girl have been filed, but due to the alleged victim's age, and the credibility of the witnesses, police are taking the matter seriously. They combed through the area on Monday with helicopters, horses and dogs but came up empty-handed.

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Sketches of the victim and her possible attacker were released Tuesday night, and police are hoping that someone will recognize either of the two persons and come forward.

The public, however, is outraged that all of these witnesses saw the events happen but did nothing to try and help the young girl, especially given the description they were able to give to police and the length to which they watched the ordeal.

"It's amazing and so very sad that witnesses see the girl being dragged by the hair: do nothing. Then see her clothes being taken off and again: do nothing. What if the girl had been their daughter, would they do the same? How can they sleep at night"? charged Washington Post reader suzyboots.