Watts family desperate for answers after 16-year-old girl goes missing

WATTS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Watts family is desperate for answers and asking for the public's help in finding a missing 16-year-old girl last seen one week ago.

The family of Mayanin Vazquez says she was on her way to school with her sisters last Monday morning when she stopped at a Smart & Final near Laurel and E. 97 streets in Watts.

However, Mayanin never made it to school and her family doesn't know where she went. The teenager was last seen on video walking outside the store with a man unknown to her family.

"I don't know if it's a friendly person or an enemy," said the girl's father, Samuel Maldonado. "Obviously, that's the last person that we need to find so that we can answer some questions. It looks weird to me. Obviously, I don't recognize the person, so that, right away, it raises red flags for me."

Mayanin's family says they immediately reported her missing. They described the teen as a good student and an athlete, running cross-country and track.

They told ABC7 there's no reason to believe she ran away, adding that she doesn't have a boyfriend. Her family also says she left her phone at home.

"You're not in trouble," the father said in a message to his daughter. "Don't let them lie to you that you cannot come home. That we won't love you, that we won't accept you. We are home with open arms, waiting for her to be found and come home."

Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities.