An amber alert has been issued for a 14-year-old Virginia girl who went missing from her home last week.
Isabel Shea Hicks of Bumpass is believed to have been taken by her mother’s ex-boyfriend, 33-year-old Bruce William Lynch, reported CBS6. Virginia State Police said in the Amber Alert that Lynch could be armed and is possibly suicidal.
Hicks was last seen by her sister in their bedroom, which the girls share, on Oct. 21, Detective Chuck Love told NBC. When the teen’s sister woke up, Hicks was gone. The girl then told their parents, who alerted the police.
“Isabel, I love you, and I want you to come home. And just let me know if you’re OK.” Hicks’ mother, Courtney Lewis, said in tears at a press conference on Thursday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Lynch, who is also from Bumpass, lived with the family in their Louisa County home until last month when he was kicked out.
The FBI has joined the Louisa County Sheriff’s Department in their search for Hicks and Lynch.
Lynch is driving a light blue/silver 2003 Toyota Matrix with Virginia license-plates VEM-9071, but may have switched plates to UXW-3614 or 249-9UT, the alert says. Investigators further believe they may be in rural Virginia en route to another state.
“Information received appears they may be traveling out of state and staying in areas where they could camp,” the alert says.
Hicks is 4-foot-11, weighs 120 pounds, and has straight blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a birthmark on the inside of her right leg and has both ears pierced, officials said.
Lynch is described as a white man, 5-feet-10-inches tall, and 190 pounds. He has brown hair, brown eyes, and a brown beard. He has cross tattoos on both his upper arms and a tattoo that says “Bruce” on his upper back.
Louisa Sheriff Maj. Donald Lowe said that a warrant for felony abduction had been obtained for Lynch on Friday, reported Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Crime Insider sources told CBS that they do not believe Hicks was “taken against her will.”
Lowe added that the teen’s disappearance was “more than what it initially appeared to be,” he said. “The entire community is concerned about Isabel and would like to see her come home. She is loved, and everybody is worried about her,” The Times-Dispatch reported.
Anyone who sees the vehicle, Lynch, or Hicks is asked to call the Louisa Sheriff’s Office at (540) 967-1234 or dial 911.
