Rachel Roberts Missing: Parents Fear for Teen Who Spoke With Criminal Before Disappearing
Rachel Roberts' family wants nothing more than their 15-year-old daughter to return home. She was last seen on July 16 at her home in Midvale, Utah but her cell phone was discovered further away, at the Salt Lake City TRAX station.
"She was grounded because she had been brought home by the police at 3 a.m. the night before for being out after curfew," Rachel's father, Christian, told Radar Online. "So she went to bed Saturday night early, and I didn't notice until the next day that she was missing. I checked her phone records and she was texting back and forth all night long."
Christian noted that he had several reasons to worry: Rachel suffers from asthma and has had severe asthma attacks in the past, and she was texting with a known criminal before disappearing.
"It turned out she was texting with some small-time criminal in the local community and he encouraged her to leave, so she met him and a group of people in a local park," he said.
The 24-year-old "claimed he found her phone and he returned it to me," Christian added. Police have tried to talk to the young man but he has not been at the address he supposedly lives at. The Unified Police Department are investigating the disappearance but have reason to believe that Rachel ran away from home and do not suspect foul play.
"I hope that she is hiding out with friends, camping out and just being stubborn… trying to prove that she can make it on her own and that she doesn't need the restrictions that I've given a teenage girl," Christian said.
He has established a Facebook page to help find Rachel and encourages her to return home, no matter the situation.
"Rachel, if you are watching this page, please understand that you won't/can't get the kind of care you need out in the wild on your own. We are worried. What's going to happen if you have another massive asthma attack?" the family posted.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Unified Police Department at (801) 743-7000.
