An honors student from Maryland has been missing since early September, and the search for the teen is growing more urgent by the day.
Fifteen-year-old Janee Monique DeVille disappeared from DuVal High School in Lanham on Sept. 4. She took a bus to New York City with her boyfriend, who was the last person to see her, police say. The 17-year-old boyfriend returned to Maryland, but she did not.
"Janee, if you see this, we love you, we miss you and we want you back home," her father, Joseph DeVille, told News4, with tears in his eyes.
Police say DeVille left school with her boyfriend on Sept. 4 and headed to Queens, New York, by bus. Surveillance video footage shows the two leaving from D.C.'s Union Station and arriving in New York, Cmdr. Robert Harvin said.
Prince George's County police upgraded her status to that of a critically missing person on Sept. 19, after her 17-year-old boyfriend returned. Officers traveled to New York to put up signs and check shelters, but there still was no sign of DeVille.
"Our actual concern is that she has no financial means to support herself," Harvin said.
According to police, DeVille's boyfriend said she refused to go home. He said he didn't know where she was.
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Her father said he thinks his daughter's boyfriend knows more.
"He was the last one with her. He was the last one to see her, so only he really has the answer to what really happened," Joseph DeVille said.
The 17-year-old told the father that while he and his daughter were in New York, they slept in parks. Joseph DeVille said he found that odd; DeVille is severely allergic to mosquito bites and didn't often spend time outdoors.
DeVille stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 120 pounds. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call police at 301-772-4911.
A prayer circle for DeVille was held at Saturday at the Good Luck Community Center. Her family hosted a barbecue and made signs.
