Wichita mother worries missing teen is vulnerable

Virginia Gonzalez’s 17-year-old daughter, Ariel Medina, had been gone from her south Wichita home for 21 days as of Thursday evening.

Gonzalez wears the pained expression of a mother who has been counting the days.

“I hate for it to turn night – because there goes another night without her,” she says.

Wichita police are investigating it as a runaway case. But Gonzalez worries that her daughter has been kidnapped. She says Ariel, going into her junior year at Derby High School, is especially vulnerable to being taken advantage of because she has a learning disability that affects her memory and decision-making.

“I’ve been out there day and night, looking for her,” said Gonzalez, 42. The woman is putting up fliers around town, hoping someone will recognize her daughter and call police.

Other fliers showing Ariel and listing her description – black hair, brown eyes, pierced ears, 5-feet-4 or 5-feet-5, 120 pounds – have been posted on national missing-child websites, including those for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the Polly Klaas Foundation.

One of the close-ups shows Ariel with her hair up in a bun, which is the way she has worn it for some time now. Also, her family says, she might use the nickname “Barilla.”

Police investigating

Wichita police consider Ariel to be a runaway and are actively investigating, Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Nikki Woodrow said Thursday afternoon. There have been several instances where officers assigned to the case have followed up on leads. “But nothing’s panned out,” Woodrow said.

Police don’t think the 17-year-old was kidnapped or taken by force, and her family reported her as a runaway, Woodrow said. She said the case didn’t fit the Amber Alert criteria.

Anyone under 18 is considered a child under the law, and if a child runs away and it isn’t reported, or if someone is “harboring” a runaway child, the adults involved could face charges, Woodrow explained.

Police know that Ariel’s family has put out a flier about her being missing, and “we fully support that,” Woodrow said.

The police numbers to call to report any information about the teen: 911; the Exploited and Missing Child Unit, 316-660-9478 during business hours; or Crime Stoppers, 316-267-2111.

Ariel was last seen outside her home, in a south Wichita apartment complex, the night of June 10, Gonzalez said.

The teen took just her purse, cellphone and charger. She left her clothes and medication behind. Someone turned off her cellphone at 9:49 p.m. June 10.

She also left behind her little sad-eyed dachshund, Scrappy, who “has been crying for her,” Gonzalez said.

When Ariel is home, “he won’t leave her side,” Gonzalez said.

She had never run away before and shouldn’t be considered a runaway now, Gonzalez said.

Ariel is the youngest of Gonzalez’s five children. “She’s the baby. I’m really protective of her because of her disability,” Gonzalez said. She drives her daughter to school every day.

But Gonzalez said: “I feel like I’m alone. … I feel like like law enforcement isn’t behind me right now. Every lead they have right now is because I’ve turned it in.”

She said she’s been calling police in tears with a message: “You need to take this case more seriously.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Wichita mother worries missing teen is vulnerable."