A'LEA NELSON - 15 yo - Waukegan IL

Police are investigating the disappearance July 31 of 15-year-old
A'Lea Nelson from her home in the 1300 block of White Oak Drive.
Police believe Nelson, who attended Warren Township High School
last year, has run away from home and is staying with a boyfriend or
friends. But Nelson's mother, Beauty Kirk, said she believes her
daughter was abducted from her bedroom during the night, leaving behind
her purse, cell phone, money and clothes, and taking only a house key.


"We just want to get her back home," said Kirk, who works as an
assistant director of admissions for DeVry University in Chicago. "Every
night I think about A'Lea and all the other children out there who are
missing."Waukegan Police Chief Daniel Greathouse said Wednesday
the department has not issued an Amber Alert for Nelson because she has
run away before, does not appear to be endangered and "appears to have
the support of friends.""We've talked to her friends, who say she's fine," said Greathouse, who said Nelson also has called her mother numerous times.While
Kirk worries her daughter may be under the sway of a criminal ring that
exploits minors or runaways, Greathouse said such groups "don't allow
the person to call home everyday -- that just doesn't happen."Greathouse said most teens who run away come back or are located through friends."In
this situation, it appears the daughter has made a considered decision
to get support from other friends," said Greathouse, who added the
department is in the process of subpoenaing phone records as part of the
investigation.Kirk suspects her daughter may have been lured
into trouble through friends on Facebook and she believes, she said,
that she may be in Indiana.A'Lea is 5'3" tall and weighs about 120 pounds.

A 15-year-old who was reported missing from her home late last month
was found unharmed Friday afternoon in Chicago, according to Waukegan
police.Chief Daniel Greathouse said A'Lea Nelson appears to have left home on
her own and has spent the past few weeks staying with friends in the
Englewood neighborhood."She was fine and well cared for," Greathouse said. "She was definitely not abducted."Nelson's mother feared her daughter
had been abducted during the night on July 31, stating that the teen
left behind her purse, cell phone, money and clothes, taking only a
house key.Greathouse said police believed Nelson had run away to Englewood based
on information gathered from friends, and two detectives drove down to
Chicago Friday to locate her. She was found around 4:30 p.m., and
arrangements were being made to have her mother pick her up.