MISSING: Murrieta Mother Searching for Runaway Daughter

A Murrieta mother asked for help Friday in bringing her 16-year-old daughter home.

Ashley Brittany Lopez, a student at River Springs Charter School in Temecula, was last seen at about 9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, walking away from the campus toward Margarita and Rancho Vista roads in Temecula, her mother, Evelyn Lopez told Patch.

Ashley is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 147 pounds. She has brown eyes and waist-length hair that is dyed reddish brown. She was last seen wearing blue skinny jeans, a red hooded sweatshirt and red Converse.

“I am just worried about where she is sleeping; are they treating her OK? Is she eating? I’m just worried for her safety in general,” Lopez said.

A police report has been filed with the Temecula Police Department, said Lopez, who has also reached out to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Lopez said she dropped her daughter off at school that day, and returned home to find a note from Ashley stating that she was running away.

Ashley has not contacted her family since, and her cellphone has been turned off. Lopez said efforts to track her phone using GPS have been fruitless because there is no signal.

Through talking with some of her close friends, her mother said she learned Ashley may have taken a trip to Las Vegas. She may also be in the Victorville area, where the boyfriend of one of her close friends lives, according to Lopez.

The teen has had some issues with drugs and rebelliousness in the past, Lopez said, noting the family had worked through that with the help of counseling.

She worries that with Ashley out on her own, she may be influenced to pick up those old habits.

Anyone who believes they have seen Ashley or may have information about her whereabouts should call the Temecula Police Department at 951-696-4357, case no. TE133540059.

Tips may also be phoned in to 1-800-THE-LOST, reference case no. 1227177.