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[UPDATE] Missing NJ Teen Who Tweeted For 911 Help May Have Run Away
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 1, 2012
Modified Oct 1, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 1, 2012
Modified Oct 1, 2012
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Last night New Jersey teen Kara Alongi disappeared after issuing a cry for help on Twitter, asking her followers to call 911 because there was an intruder in her parents' suburban home. It was 6:12 p.m., and Alongi, 16, was home alone in Clark, NJ while the rest of her family attended her brother's sporting event. Her distress call was quickly replicated on Twitter, and 15 hours later, Alongi has over 92,000 followers. She's currently missing, but local police now believe she left of her own volition.
After a thorough search of the home, police found no signs of a forced entry or struggle. "She is currently still missing, but we are confident she left voluntarily," Scherb told Patch. "No abduction, no foul play. We are investigating this as a missing runaway juvenile. We still don't know whether she ran away or if there was any foul play. There are no obvious signs of a break-in and the home was not ransacked. The door was open. Kara, if you see this, please contact your parents or Clark Police. You will not be in trouble. We are concerned for your safety."
Update 9:51 a.m.: A cab driver told police he picked her up at her home and dropped her off at the Rahway Train Station last night, not long after her Twitter cry for help.
A "Help Find Kara Alongi" Facebook page was quickly created and now has over 5,000 likes, and the #HelpFindKara Twitter hashtag is attracting a lot of attention, including speculation that Alongi's cry for help was a teen crying wolf. One user posted a screenshot of a Twitter profile that appears to be Alongi's, with an additional tweet reading, "Wtf? Why is everyone saying I'm missing? It was a jkin haha." This tweet was then deleted, the theory goes:
wow she faked it! she tweeted then deleted it! @karaalongi #helpfindkara twitter.com/jeannanicoleee…
— jeannanicoleee (@jeannanicoleee) October 1, 2012
Of course, this has spawned its own subsection of debate about whether that tweet was real or Photoshop:
At any rate, police are still searching for the teen, and we'll update when this mystery is solved. In the meantime, the #HelpFindKara hashtag is still going strong:
5000 people were massacred in #Syria this month but no, lets all freak about about the missing homophobic white girl. #helpfindkara
— Anonymous (@DBCOOPA) October 1, 2012
I couldn't find her, but do your part! #helpfindkara twitter.com/AfroSpeaks/sta…
— jacobi (@AfroSpeaks) October 1, 2012
I hope the cops charge her parents for the resources they used looking for her. What a Dick. #helpfindkara #rudebitch
— Erin(@chickenpotpie8) October 1, 2012
Tagged
kara alongi
missing teen
new jersey
social media
teenagers
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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