Sacramento teen who went missing for several days is safely located, police say

UPDATE:

Tymeah James was safely located, the Sacramento Police Department said Tuesday.

“Detectives have confirmed there are no signs of foul play associated with the case, and she will be reunited with family,” said Officer Karl Chan, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department.

James’ mother, Yolanda, told The Bee she was found in Manteca.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The family of Tymeah James is growing increasingly worried about the disappearance of their 16-year-old teenager that went missing around noon Friday.

She attends Hiram Johnson High School and never came home from school. Family members have made phone calls to her phone but they are going straight to voicemail.

James’ mother, Yolanda Holmes, told The Sacramento Bee, “this is not like her” as she fears for the safety of her daughter.

“This is not like my daughter. She is a straight-A student. She works, she goes to school, she’s on the cheer team, and she praises our church,” said Holmes.

She was last seen wearing a crop-top sweatshirt and ripped blue jeans. Pictured on the sweatshirt is Angelica, a cartoon character from the Nickelodeon show “The Rugrats.”

James has long-braided hair that extends past her waist, to the beginning of her knees. It’s burgundy, with clear beads towards the end.

Holmes is asking the Sacramento community’s help in locating her daughters’ whereabouts, after stating she feels the local authorities have not adequately addressed the situation.

“My daughter has been missing for four days,” said Holmes. “The school has been a great help. The community has been helpful, my church has been helpful. Pretty much everyone, except for the police department, has been helpful.”

Holmes says a Walmart employee said she was last seen around 6 p.m. Saturday, at their Folsom Boulevard and Zinfandel Road location in Rancho Cordova.

The employee told Holmes that she helped her in the self-checkout line and identified James later that evening after seeing a flier on social media.

Prior to that, she was told that James was seen at Starbucks, located on 65th and Broadway, getting into a black car. She says the Starbucks location could not run the cameras to identify the license plate, make, and model.

Holmes says she contacted Sacramento Police Department and Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office to file a missing person’s report, but was told ‘good luck’ after she said authorities searched for an hour.

“It seemed like they didn’t care, to me,” said Holmes. “Because we’re African American, they don’t care, because (if not) she would have been on the news already.”

The Sacramento Police Department confirmed a report was filed Friday.

“This is this is an active missing persons case and it’s been an active missing persons case from the beginning and we’ve had patrol officers following up on leads all the way to our detectives,” said Officer Karl Chan, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department.

“Whether you think that the person is missing. Whether they’ve been missing for 10 minutes, or, one day, you can call it any time and file that report, there is no time limit,” said Chan.

As she continues to search for her missing child, Holmes has one message.

“You’re not in trouble, Tymeah, I just need you to come home. I love you,” said Holmes.