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California woman is shot and pulled from car by kidnapper at Los Angeles park, police say

Andrea Vasquez, 19, seemingly abducted from Penn Park in Whittier

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Tuesday 22 August 2023 18:27 BST
Andrea Vazquez: Missing woman possibly kidnapped

A search is underway for a California woman who was shot and seemingly abducted from her boyfriend’s car at a park.

Andrea Vasquez, 19, was reportedly kidnapped from Penn Park in Whittier, outside Los Angeles, as she was sitting in a parked car with her boyfriend.

“An armed suspect approached their vehicle and fired a weapon in their direction,” stated the Whittier Police Department.

Investigators say the boyfriend fled the gunfire and when he returned to the vehicle he “discovered blood” near it and Ms Vasquez had gone.

The family says that Ms Vasquez’s phone last pinged in the Moreno Valley area, around 50 miles east of Whittier.

And they say they tracked the phone to a field off the 10 Freeway, where they found more blood but no sign of her.

Her sister, Edlyn Vasquez, with whom she lives in Los Angeles, has appealed for help finding her.

“I’ve never experienced a heartbreak like this,” Edlyn Vazquez told TV station KTLA.

“I’m just trying to stay strong for her because I know she’ll be back.”

Police say that she is 5ft 3ins tall, weighs 103 pounds and has brownish-red hair and brown eyes.

She was wearing a black long-sleeve crop top, khaki pants and black low-top Converse shoes. She has her sister’s name, Edlyn, tattooed on the back of her neck, an Aries constellation on the top of her right hand and a belly button piercing.

Edlyn Vasquez urged for her sister to be returned safely.

“Just stay strong and we’re here and we’re looking, we’re not going to stop looking,” she said.

“She’ll be with us soon, I know she will. If you have her, please, please just bring her home. I don’t want to know anything. I don’t have any questions for the person, nothing. I just want her home.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Jose Bolanos at 562-328-8504, Detective Tom Nordbak at 562-244-0054 or the tipline at 562-567-9299.

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