Huge update in case of missing California girl who showed up outside TV station ‘to tell her story’ as police make shock arrest
The father of a 15-year-old Southern California girl who was missing for a week has been arrested and faces charges of child abduction, conspiracy and falsifying a police report.
Jeffery Chao was arrested by officers with the Monterey Park Police Department following an “extensive investigation” after his daughter, Alison Jillian Chao, suddenly disappeared on July 16 after leaving her father’s home.
A missing person case was subsequently opened against the consistently good-grade student after she failed to show up at her aunt’s house in San Gabriel, about three miles away.
A citywide search was launched for the missing teen. Volunteers canvassed neighborhoods and handed out missing person flyers. Family members, including her mother, Annie Chao, went on the media and pleaded in tears.
Jeffery Chao, the father of a 15-year-old Southern California girl who was missing for a week, has been arrested by law enforcement officials
Alison Chao, 15, disappeared on July 16 while biking three miles from her father’s house in Monterey Park to her aunt’s house in San Gabriel. She turned up a week later for a TV station
Annie was last seen on surveillance footage in a photo of her on her GT mountain bike, wearing a purple t-shirt with black shorts and dark shoes. She was also carrying a backpack.
To her surprise, Alison turned up safe and sound at the gates of the local ABC television station in Glendale on Tuesday, a week after her disappearance. She wanted to “tell her story.”
But now the question remains as to what exactly happened in the week Alison was missing.
While details surrounding her father Jeffery Chao’s arrest are sketchy, detectives suspect he may have played a role in Alison’s disappearance.
Alison’s aunt said she believes the high school student ran away because she didn’t want to be with her mother, who was awarded custody of her during her parents’ divorce.
It is still unknown where the teenager went for a week during her disappearance
Missing teenager Alison Jillian Chao (center) was found outside a local news station a week after her disappearance, begging for her story to be shared
On Friday, police said the investigation was ongoing and that “no further comment can be made at this time.”
The teen’s parents are divorced, leading to speculation that Alison’s disappearance is the result of a custody dispute.
Her mother, Annie Chao, was granted “sole physical custody” of Alison, in the interest of her mental health and well-being.
A video has also surfaced from the day before Alison was reported missing, showing police at Jeffery Chao’s house, urging the teen to come with them.
In the background a woman’s voice can be heard, sounding desperate and refusing.
After Alison was found safe, her mother responded to social media posts speculating about what might have happened.
Alison’s mother, Annie Chao, pictured, was granted “sole physical custody” of Alison, in the interest of her mental health and well-being.
The family even put up flyers in Monterey Park in the desperate search for the teen
The teenager finally surfaced a week after she disappeared
According to Annie Chao, the messages were full of “uninformed opinions, speculation and hurtful comments about me and my family.”
“There has been a lot of misinformation posted online about Alison and my family by a small number of people,” said Annie Chao.
“If you want to help Alison, stop posting about this issue,” she continued, explaining how her daughter… a ‘young girl’, with feelings about her parents’ divorce that are ‘understandably complicated’.
“I will always do my best to protect Alison’s interests, no matter the circumstances and no matter the stones thrown at me,” her mother said.
The family does not know where Alison was the week she went missing.
When Allison showed up at the television station, a woman, Rachelle, recognized her from the poster announcing her disappearance.
Rachelle said the teen was desperately trying to talk to someone and she made a heartbreaking statement.
The teenager was last seen in a graphic photo of herself riding her GT mountain bike, wearing a purple T-shirt with black shorts and dark shoes
“She was very clear about, ‘I came to ABC to tell my story. No one else is going to listen to me,'” Rachelle told the local news channel.
‘What struck me right away was how confident she was. Sound in mind. Very articulate, very clear about what the situation was.
‘She was crying. She was very upset. Especially because she couldn’t tell her story.
“All I can tell you is that this is someone who is three years away from adulthood and feels like she is not being listened to at all and that there is no way for her to be brought to justice,” Rachelle said.
“I hope her family comes together, that they can resolve this for her and that the court does not abandon her.”
Alison is now in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Families.