Pennsylvania authorities are searching for an Amish teen who vanished after attending Sunday church services, reports said.
Linda Stoltzfoos, 18, never returned to her family’s home in the rural village of Bird-in-Hand in Lancaster County, NBC affiliate WGAL reported.
“There’s no reason to believe that she wanted to leave,” East Lampeter Township Police Department officer Matt Hess told the outlet. “She didn’t indicate to anyone that she wanted to go take a trip, so it’s very out of character for Linda to do this.”
He added that “it changed the circumstances in the sense that there [were] no pre-planned events or reasons for her to not come back home.”
Stoltzfoos was last seen on a farm on Stumptown Road wearing a tan dress, white apron and white cape, according to the local crime watch website. She is described as 5-foot-10 and 125 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.
“Police believe this person may be at special risk of harm or injury,” Pennsylvania State Police said Monday in a “missing endangered person” advisory.
On Monday, volunteers searched through fields and streams, local roads were shut down, and 15 horses with riders were dispatched to help in the search, Lancaster Online reported.
An evening vigil was held, drawing about 100 people to pray, cry and sing in the open field.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts should immediately call 911 or the East Lampeter Township Police Department at 717-291-4676.