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Monroe Teen Goes Missing While Visiting Baltimore

BALTIMORE — Police in Baltimore are searching for a missing 16-year-old Monroe girl.

Phylicia Barnes was last seen Tuesday afternoon in Baltimore, where she was visiting her father for the holidays. Her father, Russell Barnes, said she left his home to get something to eat.

“It's not in her character to disappear. It's not her character at all to not let anybody know her whereabouts,” he said. “She's not just a runaway or anything like that.”

Russell Barnes said he tried calling Phylicia’s cell phone after she didn’t return, but her phone went dead.

The teen is unfamiliar with Baltimore and knows few people, according to the Baltimore Police Department.

Barnes was last seen wearing a navy blue hooded pea coat, a turquoise thermal shirt, blue jeans and white slippers/boots. She was carrying a caramel-colored purse.

She is a student at Union Academy, where students are praying for her safe return.

“You hear about it in the news, but that's just a person. But now it’s somebody you know and it’s so different,” student Shana Grigston said.

“She needs to come home. Hopefully, she's OK, because everybody is real worried about her,” student Brenna Cripe said.

Anyone with information about Barnes’ whereabouts is asked to call Baltimore's Missing Persons Unit at 443-984-7385.