It's been nearly a week since Wanda Gomez has seen her 17-year-old daughter Evelyn Rivera.
She was last seen at home at about 2 a.m. Monday, on the 200 block of Northwest 10th Street, where family and friends handed out fliers Saturday morning.
"I just want to tell her to call me, to let us know that she is okay,” Gomez said. She urged her daughter to come home.
But Gomez said she now has reason to believe Rivera is in danger and traveling with a neighbor, 27-year-old Steven Clubb. The two can be seen together in a photo taken days before the teen went missing. It was sent to Clubb’s mother on Friday along with a message that Rivera was his new girlfriend, said private investigator Joe Carrillo, who is volunteering to help in Rivera’s case.
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Carrillo said he has been in touch with Clubb's mother, who provided information on his background.
“Mr. Clubb is supposed to be taking some sort of psychological medication, which he has not, and his mother told me last night that he could be suicidal,” Carrillo said.
Rivera’s family believes that she is alive.
"Apparently she sent a message through Facebook to her sister yesterday. We can't prove it was from her because it's on Facebook, but saying that she is with Steven Clubb, and that they're okay,” Carrillo said.
Gomez said her daughter's Facebook profile has since been deleted. She fears that her daughter may have unknowingly put herself in harm's way. Miami-Dade court records show that a judge dismissed drug charges against Clubb last month.
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Gomez said neighbors saw Rivera hanging around Clubb days before she went missing. One reported seeing the two at a nearby bus stop the morning she disappeared.
"If you see her, if you saw him, if you know something, please call the police,” Gomez said in tears.
Rivera is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call Miami Police at 305-603-6300.
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