Naomi Irion Missing: Cops Believe Teen Was Kidnapped From Walmart Parking Lot
KEY POINTS
- Naomi Irion was last seen on March 12 at a Walmart parking lot in Fernley
- The investigators have recovered her vehicle
- Cops believe the suspect now drives a dark Chevrolet High Country pickup truck
A Nevada teen who disappeared from a Walmart parking lot last week may have been kidnapped in her own car, police said.
Naomi Irion, 18, was last seen at the parking lot of a Walmart store in Fernley on March 12 early morning. She was waiting for a shuttle bus to go to work at a nearby company, Lyon County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Thursday.
Irion's family called the police and reported her missing when she did not return home or show up for work.
Investigators reportedly found a surveillance video that showed a man walking from a nearby homeless camp, forcing his way into the driver's seat of Irion's four-door sedan and then driving away with her in the passenger seat, ABC News reported.
Cops later recovered the car from an industrial area in Fernley. The evidence received from her car suggests her disappearance is suspicious. The unidentified suspect, who is now believed to be driving a dark, newer model Chevrolet High Country pickup truck, knows about her whereabouts, police said.
Irion's older brother, Casey Valley, said the video, which was not released, showed the suspect lurking around Irion's vehicle to ensure that nobody was watching him before forcing his way into the driver's seat. He must have "either said or did something to make her move to the passenger seat, and then he drove her car away into an unknown direction," Valley told NBC News.
Police are also seeking the public's help in searching for Irion and tracing the suspect.
"The Lyon County Sheriff's Office is seeking any information regarding the disappearance and whereabouts of Naomi Irion, the Chevrolet pickup vehicle, and/or information concerning possible contacts that persons may have had with Naomi," the news release said.
Lyon County Sheriff Frank Hunewill said the investigators were not sure if the suspect was homeless or not.
"We are making a plea to the public right now to help us locate our person of interest vehicle," Hunewill said.
Valley, who appeared in a press conference Thursday with his sibling Tamara Cartwright, pleaded for help in locating his sister.
"We just want Naomi, and we're not going to stop until we find her," he said.
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