Search still underway for missing teen

SYRACUSE, Ind.--The Syracuse Police Department is continuing to investigate the disappearance of 14-year-old Aaliyah Ramirez, who was last seen last Tuesday morning at 8 AM leaving to catch her bus, but never made it to school, and never returned home.

Aaliyah is 5’9’’, has black hair and brown eyes and weighs around 138 pounds. On the day of her disappearance, she was wearing a black zip-up jacket, white sweatpants, and a purple Nike backpack.

The very next day on Wednesday, a statewide silver alert was declared, and still continues on almost a week later.

“She’s just not one to like have any issues and what not like this before,” Aaliyah’s Aunt Allissa Sands said.

“As time goes on, it’s heartbreaking,” Former dance mate and friend Katie Reynolds said.

Syracuse police officials say she is believed to be in danger and tell ABC57 news they originally suspected this to be a runaway case, but because they’ve gotten nowhere with leads, they are no longer sure that's the case.

“I’m not for sure if she ran or if somebody grabbed her,” Sands said. “There’s been like an issue with custody and stuff like that. And I think it got the best of her and I think this is what happens when people don’t listen to kids. I just want to know when she went missing, what happened before she went missing, what lead up to it.”

Ramirez is known by all that know her as a sweet and outgoing girl.

“I know a lot of people say this but she’s literally the sweetest girl I’ve ever met,” Reynolds said.

“She loves dance. She always gets good grades; I mean all around she’s a really good kid,” Sands said.

Since the news of her disappearance, community members locally in Syracuse and from other surrounding areas have flooded social media to try and get the word out.

“I just started posting on social media about her if anything knew anything about her. I’ve been handing out flyers literally all weekend, sending PDFS to other people, strangers I’ve been talking to strangers about it,” Reynolds said.

And hopes the outpour doesn’t stop until young Aaliyah is back home.

“I feel like with more people helping, the better,” Sands said.

“It’s so, so important to just help. And this is such a good cause to get behind, it’s a little girl. So, I’ve been just encouraging a lot of people to take initiative,” Reynolds said.

If you know anything about Aaliyah’s whereabouts, you’re asked to call the Syracuse Police Department or 911.