Search Continues for Teenager Possibly Abducted in Parking Lot: ‘We Have to Stay Optimistic’

Officials who believe a teenager in Nevada may have been kidnapped from a parking lot are continuing their search with help from citizens.

Eighteen-year-old Naomi Irion was last spotted in her own vehicle on March 12 during the early morning hours outside a Walmart in Fernley, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said, according to a Friday report from ABC News.

“Surveillance video captured a man getting into the driver’s seat of her car and leaving in an unknown direction with Irion in the passenger seat, said the sheriff’s office, which has characterized her disappearance as ‘suspicious in nature,'” the outlet noted.

Irion was initially in the driver’s seat, but the suspect did something to force her to move, according to her brother, Casey Valley, who reportedly saw the footage.

In a social media post on Saturday, reporter Valentina Bonaparte shared photos of 400 to 500 people gathered to look for Irion:

Deputies found the young woman’s car Tuesday in an industrial park near the Walmart. “Evidence suggesting Naomi’s disappearance is criminal in nature was located in the vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The forensic evidence discovered, to date, continues to lead Lyon County investigators to believe Naomi’s disappearance is suspicious in nature and that the driver of the above vehicle has a direct connection to her disappearance and her current whereabouts,” the release continued.

On Friday, authorities said a cellphone ping directed them to Wadsworth in the search for Irion, and KTVN shared photos of officials’ vehicles parked in the rural area:

Surveillance video also caught the moment the suspect walked away from a nearby homeless camp; however, it was unclear if the individual was homeless, the ABC report said.

The young woman’s sister, Tamara Cartwright, encouraged those who might come across someone online who looks like Irion, or see the vehicle in question, to call authorities immediately and report it.

“We have to stay optimistic,” she commented. “There’s no choice.”