El Dorado County sheriff looking into report of missing teen

An El Dorado County sheriff's investigator is following up on leads involving a 17-year-old El Dorado Hills girl last seen March 18, Undersheriff Fred Kollar said today.

Those leads include reports circulated Monday afternoon indicating that Kacie Klinnert was last seen talking to several men, who were driving black sports utility vehicles, said Klinnert's mother, Vicki Zito. Similar SUVs were described by younger children who were approached by a stranger a few weeks ago in El Dorado Hills.

"We are not going to rule anything out," Kollar said.

Kacie was last seen about 9 p.m. March 18 in the Stonegate Village area of El Dorado Hills. On Monday the girl was still being regarded by officials as a "voluntary runaway" and not an "at-risk" missing person, despite assertions by her parents that she has been out on the street without important medications.

Kacie's parents, Scott and Vicki Zito, have mounted a wide-ranging e-mail campaign attempting to alert the community and gain media attention. They also have recruited volunteers to post fliers in store windows all over the area. Now they hope for an Amber Alert or some other type of statewide notification.

"We are doing anything we can to get her back," Vicki Zito said Tuesday afternoon in a telephone interview.

She is especially worried that her daughter has been abducted because Kacie is "developmentally and cognitively impaired."

"Imagine a 10-year-old girl in a 17-year-old's body," Zito said.

Kacie attends special-education classes and has an aide who helps her with schoolwork.

Her daughter and a friend stepped out on the evening of March 18 to get a soda at a nearby shopping center and Kacie never came home, Zito said.

About a month ago, Kacie stayed out all night, so her parents waited until the next morning to sound the alarm.

The shift by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office came after further discussions with the parents, Kollar said. He stopped short of describing Kacie as "at-risk." Investigators must also look into the assertions that the girl is developmentally disabled and may not have the capacity to take care of herself, he added.

Patrol deputies have been aware of the situation for several days, Kollar said. But, if the girll continues to be classified as a voluntary runaway, the best deputies could do is alert her parents if they spot her, Kollar said.

"This is not like her, to not reach out to anybody," Zito said.

The situation is further complicated because Kacie has been taking three medications to help her with cognitive problems, her parents said, and as far they know, she has been without those medications for the past week, Vicki Zito said.