KIMBERLY TRITCHLER - 15 yo - Eureka CA

The Eureka Police
Department is requesting the public's help in locating teenager
Kimberly Tritchler, 15, who was last seen getting into a car with an
adult male early Tuesday morning.
Kimberly is 5 feet tall and weighs approximately 95 pounds. She has blond hair and brown eyes. Officials
said Kimberly was last seen getting into a gray, late 1980s model
Toyota Tercel with a white male adult at the Serenity Inn at 1:30 a.m.
She was wearing a blue mini skirt, blue tank top, and black hoodie
sweatshirt that either has guns or brass knuckles in gold on it. She
was also wearing black and white tennis shoes that go up to her calves.
According to the EPD, she had told friends that she was meeting
her boyfriend named Luiz -- unknown last name -- and that they were
planning on going south. Kimberly met Luiz online. Officials said it is
believed that Luiz is between the ages of 18 and 24. Anyone
with information regarding Kimberly Tritchler is encouraged to contact
the Eureka Police Department at (707) 441-4300 or the 24-hour dispatch
number at (707) 441-4044.

A 15-year-old girl who was reported missing out of Eureka was found in San Jose on Friday. Kimberly
Tritchler was found with an unnamed 34-year-old man in the San Jose
area. The man is currently in custody but Eureka Police Department has
not released what he is charged with. Tritchler was reportedly
last seen getting into a Toyota Tercel with a white male adult at the
Serenity Inn, according to an EPD press release. She had told friends
she was meeting her online boyfriend, Luiz, and they planned to go
south.

A 34-year-old San Jose man
remained in custody Wednesday in a Santa Clara County Jail, accused of
having unlawful sex with a teenage Eureka girl he reportedly met over
the Internet. Michael Anthony Hernandez was arrested in San
Jose on Friday, days after the 15-year-old Eureka girl was reported
missing and was allegedly last seen getting into Hernandez's car. A
multi-jurisdictional investigation involving four agencies tracked
Hernandez down at a home on Staples Avenue in San Jose, where he was
taken into custody on suspicion of sexual assault. Officials said the Eureka teenager was returned home safely. According
to Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Rick Sung, Hernandez has
been charged with three counts of having sexual intercourse with a
child under 16 years of age. He remains held in the Santa Clara County
jail on $225,000 bail. Hernandez was scheduled to be arraigned
Wednesday, but the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office was
unable to confirm if Hernandez had entered a plea by the
Times-Standard's deadline. His next scheduled court appearance is Oct.
6. Wayne Cox, an investigator with the Humboldt County District
Attorney's Office, said his office became involved in the investigation
after receiving a request for assistance from the Eureka Police
Department. Cox said investigators soon received some information that
the juvenile may have been taken to the San Jose area with an adult
male named Michael Hernandez, whom she had met online. ”I was told
they'd met online which I can tell you, from the Humboldt County DA's
Office's standpoint, was of major concern to us because we know from
training and working these cases that predators often seek out their
victims in chatrooms, on social networking sites and other places
online,” Cox said. “It increased the intensity level of the
investigation from our perspective.” Working with EPD
dispatcher Michelle Olson, Cox said investigators were able to track
down a current address for Hernandez using Department of Motor
Vehicles' records. ”Our office then coordinated with law
enforcement forces in San Jose and Santa Clara County and, working
together and using advanced surveillance techniques, quickly located
the juvenile and Hernandez,” Cox said, adding that Hernandez was taken
into custody at the scene. Humboldt County DA Chief
Investigator Mike Hislop said the case is just a great example of
agencies working together and getting results. ”This is what we
need to do -- work as a team -- throughout the whole law enforcement
community to put bad guys in prison,” Hislop said. “It was just a great
piece of work on (Cox's) part in just taking the tools that we have and
putting them together into a situation where we can help find someone.”
According to Cox and Hislop, the case also underscores the
dangers of the Internet, which they said are in no way unique to
Humboldt County. According to a report by the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children, approximately one in seven
juveniles ages 10 to 17 reported having received a sexual solicitation
or approach over the Internet. The report also found that about 4
percent of juveniles said they'd been asked to meet the solicitor
somewhere or had been contacted by them off line. The National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children recommends that parents talk
to their children about their online activity and has also set up a Web
site for parents and children to warn them of the dangers that can lurk
behind Internet communications. For more information, visit
www.netsmartz.org.