Acoma teen goes missing

Thana Alonzo

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

ANZAC — Police request assistance in finding a 16-year-old Acoma girl who has been missing from the Anzac area since April 3.

According to an April 8 news release circulated by the FBI Friday, Thana Lorenzo left a group of friends in Anzac near sunset on foot.

When the girl did not rejoin her companions, they went to the Acoma Police Department and reported her missing, the release stated.

A search involving volunteers, the Acoma Law Enforcement Search and Rescue Team and the New Mexico Search and Rescue Team was launched in response to the friends’ report, the bureau said.

As of April 8, Lorenzo’s whereabouts remained unknown and no contact with the girl had been reported, bureau information continued.

Efforts to locate the missing girl include the Bureau of Indian Affairs/Office of Justice Services, the FBI and Acoma Law Enforcement Authorities.

“At this time, there appears to be no supporting information to indicate foul play,” the bureau release stated.

It also noted that the Anzac area, about 10 miles south of Interstate 40 exit 92, is rugged and mountainous.

The missing girl was last seen wearing a green or gray colored Aeropostle brand T-shirt, blue jeans and blue/white Adidas tennis shoes.

Law enforcement agencies are requesting help from the public. Anyone with information about Lorenzo’s whereabouts should contact the BIA Office of Justice Services, (505) 346-2867 or (505) 346-2868, or the Acoma Tribal Police Department, (505) 552-6001.