Northern California for girl, 16, missing since February found; CHP Ebony Alert canceled

A 16-year-old girl who went missing from the Bay Area has been days after the California Highway Patrol activated an Ebony Alert for her disappearance.

The girl had been missing since Feb. 24 on Verbena Drive and Gardenia Way in East Palo Alto, the CHP said in the Sunday night alert.

The Ebony Alert was issued for Alameda, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Orange counties.

On Tuesday, the CHP deactivated the alert, saying the teen had been located. No other information was provided.

The Ebony Alert, which stemmed from legislation passed in 2024, is activated to help find missing Black children and young Black women. It works similarly to the Amber Alert system, which activates electronic highway signs to post information about the missing person in a coordinated effort to locate the individual.

Anyone who spots Maxey is urged to call 911.

Nearly four in 10 missing children in the U.S. are Black, according to the Black and Missing Foundation, a nonprofit that bring awareness to missing persons of color across the country. About the same percentage of sex trafficking victims are Black women.

Compounding the crisis, the Black and Missing Foundation says, is the misclassification of missing Black youths as “runaways.” Black youth are disproportionately labeled this way when compared to lost white youths who are determined to be “missing.” The labeling costs missing Black youths crucial media attention and Amber Alert notifications, the foundation said.

This story was originally published March 25, 2024 at 8:43 AM.