(WWJ) They chanted: "Bring our children home."
Two Detroit-area families unified in grief for their missing teenage girls are praying they can be reunited this Thanksgiving.
At an emotional news conference Wednesday, the families of 15-year-old Gloria Alvarado and 14-year-old Marisa Peters, both of Taylor, pleaded for information from the community.
Gloria's parents say the straight-A student has been missing without a trace since Nov. 1, when they found a cut window screen and noticed the teen's phone was left behind.
"Why are these children going missing like this? Our daughter vanished just out of thin air, and nobody knows anything," mother Tina Alvarado told WWJ's Jon Hewett and others gathered outside Taylor City Hall. "It's just not fair! I'm worried sick about her."
Alvarado she can't sleep or eat, knowing that Gloria could be in danger.
"I can barely even function... But I have to stay strong for her, because I center my strength every day. I pray to God that she's OK and safe," Alvarado said.
"We ask the public, anybody that sees this, to please find it in your heart to give a tip. We know that somebody out there has seen something."
In the case of Marisa Peters, her parents received disturbing text messages they believed to be from their daughter after she disappeared from her grandmother's home back in May.
The last of those messages, sent in September, indicated that Marisa was tied up and being held in an abandoned building with another child.
Mary Beth Peters fears her daughter may be the victim of human trafficking.
"Marisa, if you're listening or watching, please come home. You cannot be out there on these streets alone," the mother said, speaking directly to the teen.
"I want you to know that we're here for you, Marisa," she continued, through tears. "Tell these evil people to let go. You need to come home where you belong. Please, Marisa, come home! I love you."
Anyone with any information about either of these cases is asked to call Taylor Police at 734-287-6611 or the Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-800-Speak Up (1-800-773-2587). As always, all calls to Crime Stoppers are 100% anonymous and callers will not be required to speak to police or to testify in court.
Submit an anonymous tip online at this link.
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