BROKEN ARROW, Okla. -- Police are searching for a missing and endangered teenager they say went missing several weeks ago.
Police say 15-year-old Aeriona Pauley was last seen in Broken Arrow on January 1.
Brandie Pendergrass, Aerions’s mother, says she would do anything just to hold her daughter again. "I'd have never thought when she let the dog out that would be the last time I seen her. I don't know why she would have ran. She wasn't grounded or anything."
Pendergrass says she called police, but they waited for 29 days to issue an alert.
"Well, we've exhausted every lead. When we first got it, it came in as a runaway,” said Mark Back, a detective with the Broken Arrow Police Department.
Back says he receives three to four runaway juvenile reports per week and at first, the report seemed to fit that picture.
"Half the time they come back to my area, a supplement will come saying they've returned home,” said Back.
Detective Back says he knows how crucial the first 48 hours are, but he says Aeriona’s case didn’t come in as a missing person, which is why he says they didn’t alert the public. "There was a bag packed, it looked preplanned,” said back.
Less than a week later, detective Back requested phone records, finding Aeriona’s phone had been turned off. "After just exhausting every lead, it's just we have no other options."
"It took eight days to get a detective, so it's been a little rough,” said Pendergrass.
In the end, Pendergrass says she just hopes her baby comes home. "I would just hug her and tell her that I loved her."
Police say Pauley is 5 foot 9 inches tall, has brown eyes and wears braces. Her hair is naturally brunette but may be bleached blonde, say police.
According to police, Pauley is considered at risk and does not have her required prescription medication.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Broken Arrow Police Department at 918-451-8200 extension 8723.
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