15-year-old Fayetteville girl found safe and unharmed
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- A 15-year-old Fayetteville girl is safe and unharmed after being missing for 22 days, police say.
North Carolina Department of Public Safety issued the Amber Alert for Nevia Nixon, a freshman at Westover High School, on Thursday morning at 5:57.
Fayetteville Police did not say where Nevia Nixon was found.
Police were first alerted the public to Nixon being missing on Oct. 3. At that time, police identified Nixon as a teen who reportedly ran away from her mother's home.
Nixon's mother is in the U.S. Army and is stationed at Fort Bragg. She said Nixon's volleyball coach brought her home from practice on Sept. 25. The next morning, Nixon was gone.
Her mother, Cpt. Lorraine Gonzalez, said the window in her daughter's room was open. She thought her daughter ran away, but now believes she was "intercepted" at some point.
"My daughter left with nothing, not a bag or anything. So I don't know what her intentions were, but it was not long-term," Gonzalez said. "She has no money, no clothes, nothing. I don't know what my daughter's situation is right now and that's very disturbing."
"There are so many people that miss her," she said. "She deserves a life. She deserves a chance."
For the missing person alert to be upgraded to an Amber Alert it must meet some strict state requirements, including that the child was "believed to have been abducted."
During a 10-minute press conference on Thursday around 12 p.m., Fayetteville Police Department did not say Nixon had been abducted.
Investigators did repeat that they had received information that made them believe Nixon was in danger. Each time, they said that in conjunction with the fact that she has been away from home for 22 days.
"The Amber Alert was issued after we received some information that raised concern as far as her not having contact with her family and friends or social media interaction." FPD's Ranessa W. Wallace said.
When pushed to elaborate on the information that the department received that caused this case to be elevated to an Amber Alert, Fayetteville Police Department declined.
"We don't want to do that because we are still are investigating that as a parallel investigation," Major Robert Ramirez said.
Nixon's father Carton Adams is serving his country in the U.S. Navy. He told ABC11 his daughter was a loving girl who, like many her age, spent a lot of time on social media. He said since Sept. 25, she has not posted anything to her social media accounts.
"I would like to keep positive and believe that my baby is not in any danger, but she loves her family and Nevi would have reached out and came home or said something," Adams said.
When asked if he had a message for his daughter Adams said, "Nevi just come home. Just come home, don't worry about any of the consequences, no trouble, no this, no that. We miss you, just come home."
The Amber Alert describes Nixon as 15 years old, 5-foot-3 inches tall, 170 pounds, has dyed red hair and hazel eyes.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Fayetteville Police Department immediately at (910) 676-1538, or call 911 or *HP.
