Authorities Sunday requested public help in locating a 17-year-old girl diagnosed with autism who went missing from her Encino home after taking a walk.
Sara Nicole Castillo was last seen the evening of Aug. 9 near the 5400 block of Zelzah Avenue, south of the Ventura (101) Freeway, in Encino, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Castillo is Hispanic, 5 feet, 7 inches tall and around 115 pounds. She was last seen wearing a gray floral-pattern shirt, gray shorts and pink flip flops.
She was reported missing by her family Aug. 10 around 2 a.m., when they discovered she was not inside the residence. Shortly after, she sent a text message to her father stating that she had stepped out of the home to get some air, but that she was lost and couldn’t find her way home.
The LAPD reported the teen, who was new to Los Angeles, has been diagnosed with severe autism and was unfamiliar with the area.
Authorities urged anyone with information regarding Castillo’s whereabouts to call the LAPD’s Missing Persons Unit at 213-996-1800 during business hours and 877-LAPD-24-7 at other times.