CANDEYONNIE PAYTON - 16 yo - East Oakland CA

An East Oakland teenager
has been missing for more than two weeks, last seen at her high school
in May, her mother and police said Tuesday.Rochelle Payton said
she last saw her daughter, 16-year-old Candeyonnie, at the end of a
shared walk to the bus stop as Candeyonnie was heading to school May 24.
The girl is a freshman at Millsmont Secondary Academy at 8030
Atherton St., near Bancroft and 81st avenues, and went to all her
classes that day, Payton said.

"I haven't heard anything from her
since then," Payton said. "She never ran away from home, and I never had
any major problems with her. She's a happy child who likes to laugh,
smile and play. She has a little speech problem, so her words don't
always come out clear."Candeyonnie lives with her mother and
18-month-old brother in an East Oakland home, Payton said. Posting
fliers in several parts of town, in BART stations and on AC Transit
buses has not yielded any results, she said.Payton asked that
anyone with information about her daughter's whereabouts call her at
510-485-1564. She said she hopes her daughter knows how much she's loved
at home.Anyone with information also may contact the Oakland
police Missing Persons Unit at 510-238-3641."We're so worried. We
just need someone to let us know she's OK. She's very much wanted and
needed at home," Payton said. "I want her to know she's loved, no matter
what's happened."Police on Tuesday would confirm only that Candeyonnie is being
considered a missing person and not a runaway. They had no new
information to release on her case."I'm especially scared
because we're so protective in our family. She doesn't know much about
the world out there," said Emma Johnson, Candeyonnie's grandmother, who
flew to Oakland from her home in Mississippi when she heard of the
girl's disappearance. "Maybe that was a mistake, but she's out there
somewhere now. I just want to find out she's all right."

An East
Oakland teenager, missing for more than two weeks, returned home safely
today, her family said.Rochelle Payton said her 16-year-old
daughter, Candeyonnie, had been missing since May 24 and saw her picture
in a news story posted Tuesday on the Tribune website.The
details of Candeyonnie's disappearance and return remained mostly
private today, but her grandmother, Emma Johnson, said that the girl
appeared uninjured for the most part and that the family was overjoyed
to have her home."We are just so blessed, I can't believe it,"
Johnson said. "I'm so happy I'm shaking."Candeyonnie was picked
up and returned home by a member of The Citizens for the Lost Society, a
nonprofit organization formed after the disappearance of
then-5-year-old Hasanni Campbell, whose whereabouts still are not
publicly known.