It’s been more than a week since Marlen Lopez’s family and friends have seen the 19-year-old pregnant mother, and they’re pleading for answers in her disappearance.
Lopez, who was last seen on April 23, was nine months pregnant with her second child when she was reported missing.
“All the family are very sad, and they’re all missing her,” family friend Maria Castro said.
On Thursday morning, Lopez’s parents, husband, and 3-year-old son Joshua attended a press conference at Pastor Emma Lozano’s Lincoln United Methodist Church in Pilsen, where they hoped to spread the news of her disappearance.
“All the time we saw her, she was very happy all the time,” Castro said.
Lopez was last seen after leaving the Latino Youth High School near 21st and California, where she had been taking classes. She was supposed to pick up her son from daycare, but her family says she never showed up.
The family says they are unsure whether Chicago police, who issued a High Risk Missing Person alert for Lopez, have any leads in the case.
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“The detectives didn’t show up today, so the family still doesn’t know what is going on,” Pastor Lozano said.
Police tell NBC 5 that they have been looking into Marlen’s case. In an email, the department said that “detectives are still gathering information,” and said that the investigation is “ongoing.”
Lopez is described as an Hispanic woman, standing 5-foot-3 and weighing around 125 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes, and she has a distinctive nose ring, according to an alert issued by police. She was last seen driving a black Honda Civic, license plate number AW27865.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is encouraged to call 911, or to call the Special Victims Unit at 312-747-8274.
