The search for missing teenager Chloe Campbell in Colorado intensified after her parents received “disturbing” photo of their teen daughter from an anonymous sender.
The 14-year-old, who was last seen at a football game at Boulder High School on 30 September, has been missing since then without any communication with friends and family.
Chloe’s parents, Jessica Knape and David Campbell, told CBS news that they have received no update on their daughter for nine days but were suddenly sent an ominous picture from an anonymous source.
“She looked injured and unwell,” Chloe’s father told the news channel describing the photo.
Witnesses said Chloe was spotted on the Boulder Creek Trail after the game with two adult men, and appeared intoxicated.
“She was described by eyewitnesses as being with two men. Older men. Too old to be in high school. One of whom was Asian and the other who had a beard,” said Chloe’s father David.
The parents fear their daughter may have been held against her will and could be in danger. Investigators said they received information from her friends who apparently got messages from Chloe saying that she was safe with a “family” in Arizona and did not want to return home. The parents said none of those accounts belonged to Chloe.
Police have not yet been able to verify the authenticity of the messages.
The police said this case presently “does not meet the criteria for the issuance of an Amber Alert”, but investigators are growing “increasingly concerned” about the teen’s safety “as it is believed that she has no access to money or her medication. She may be with an adult male”.
The police also said they had no additional information to share at this point and were seeking help from public in locating the teen.
The parents, who have been distributing fillers and banners, urged her to return home and vowed not to give up the search.
“Chloe, honey... we love you so much. You are not in trouble,” her mother was quoted by CBS as saying. “If you can come home please do and if you can’t, we will not stop until we find you.”
