Parents desperately search for 13-year-old girl missing in Northwest DC for a week
Family searches for missing teen last seen in Northwest DC
A family is searching for missing 13-year-old Katherine "Ash" Stallard, who was last seen in Northwest D.C. on Nov. 4.
WASHINGTON - The parents of 13-year-old Katherine Stallard, who goes by the nickname "Ash," are desperately searching for answers a week after she disappeared in Northwest D.C.
D.C. police have classified the investigation as a critical missing persons case.
What we know:
Surveillance video shows Stallard walking on Rock Creek Church Road near her middle school, Creative Minds International, in Petworth around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4. According to her parents, she was last seen walking with two other children whom they believe attend the same school.
Stallard’s mother, Marianne Bakia, told FOX 5’s Shomari Stone that she dropped her daughter off at school at 8:30 a.m. last Wednesday, but the 13-year-old was not there when Bakia returned to pick her up after school around 5:30 p.m.
Ash has a developmental disability that causes her to act younger than her age. While her parents said she has left home before, she had always returned the same day. They have not heard from her since she went missing a week ago.
Bakia and Ash’s father, Carter Stallard, have been going door to door putting up missing person fliers.
What they're saying:
"I am, as a mother, terrified and panicked that we don't know where our daughter is," Bakia said.
When asked if she suspects foul play, Bakia said, "I don't know. I am concerned. I'm really deeply concerned because nobody has heard from her in a week, and it's incredibly unusual. No one's seen her. She just disappeared."
Bakia added that she is not sure if she recognizes the two other children seen with Ash on the surveillance video because the quality of the footage is not good enough.
In hopes his daughter might see his message, Stallard offered a direct plea to her: "I hope that she can see it, and she knows that we love her and that she should come home immediately."
Ash’s parents said Creative Minds International will hold a community event Thursday at 4 p.m. to raise awareness about her disappearance.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Katherine "Ash" Stallard is urged to call D.C. police at 202-727-9099 or text a tip to 50411.
The Source: Information in this article is from D.C. police and original FOX 5 DC reporting.