A 17-year-old Lakewood girl has not been seen in nearly three weeks, and police are asking anyone with information to come forward. Adriana Linares Maldonado has been missing since August 1, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which has released a photo of her as the search continues.
The case was first reported by the Tacoma News Tribune, which noted that Lakewood police are actively searching for Linares Maldonado. The paper’s reporting describes her as having brown eyes and wavy caramel-brown hair. The News Tribune reached out to the Lakewood Police Department for additional information on the case.
NCMEC’s public poster for Linares Maldonado, filed under case number 2097004 and NCIC entry number M779060911, does not include her height or weight, nor does it list where she was last seen. Those gaps leave open questions about the exact circumstances of her disappearance that have not been publicly resolved.
How Washington Law Requires Police to Respond
Under state law, local departments do not have the luxury of a slow start when a child goes missing. Revised Code of Washington § 13.60.020 requires agencies like Lakewood police to file an official missing person report and upload biographical data into the state’s computerized network within six hours of being notified, according to the Washington State Legislature. The requirement is meant to prevent the kind of early delays that can hamper multi-agency searches before a case even gets off the ground…