CA Alison Chao, 15-year-old girl Missing in San Gabriel Valley Last seen 7/16/24

[Lusitana]

I've been following this case but staying silent because I don't have much to add, but my God she looks so much younger than 15, are those pictures recent?

By now, I think it's pretty clear that Alison was not actually going to her aunt's house, but where was she going? What was her plan? Because she biked quite a distance in the opposite direction of her aunt's house and, wherever she was planing on going, she wouldn't be able to go back to either one of her parents' or her aunt's house before they noticed she was gone somewhere else, right?

The family is doing an amazing job though with CCTV, at least they have an idea where she was heading to. I wouldn't be bad to check her phone if they have and talk to her friends, in my opinion, the friends know or might suspect something.

It's summer, when was she supposed to go back to school? I don't think this could be a case of a kid stressed out with school though, it wouldn't make much sense right now.

 

[H.P. Loathecraft]

I've been following this case but staying silent because I don't have much to add, but my God she looks so much younger than 15, are those pictures recent?

By now, I think it's pretty clear that Alison was not actually going to her aunt's house, but where was she going? What was her plan? Because she biked quite a distance in the opposite direction of her aunt's house and, wherever she was planing on going, she wouldn't be able to go back to either one of her parents' or her aunt's house before they noticed she was gone somewhere else, right?

The family is doing an amazing job though with CCTV, at least they have an idea where she was heading to. I wouldn't be bad to check her phone if they have and talk to her friends, in my opinion, the friends know or might suspect something.

It's summer, when was she supposed to go back to school? I don't think this could be a case of a kid stressed out with school though, it wouldn't make much sense right now.

If you look at Boarin's #114, if that is in fact Allison, then she's in a residential area. Which begs the question where is she going?

 

[AnyNameIWish]

If you look at Boarin's #114, if that is in fact Allison, then she's in a residential area. Which begs the question where is she going?

At this point it seems clear to me that she's going to a familiar location, to a safe place. She heads south towards Via Marisol, into a specific neighborhood.


I'm pretty sure we'll find out more and it's related to how the updates were suspended in the evening on Saturday.

 

[H.P. Loathecraft]

At this point it seems clear to me that she's going to a familiar location, to a safe place. She heads south towards Via Marisol, into a specific neighborhood.


I'm pretty sure we'll find out more and it's related to how the updates were suspended in the evening on Saturday.

She had no phone, or map, so wherever she's headed, it's muscle memory. It could very well be that she knows exactly where she's going and I'd wager it's somewhere she's been before.

 

[TexLil]

I've been looking at the last confirmed sighting photo in detail. Some thoughts:

1) on the tracking app the photo icon is 'pinned' at the intersection of Lomitas Dr and S Ave 59.

2) when i look at Google Street view, it looks like the photo of Alison is actually of her at Lomitas Dr and Via Marisol.

3) this is interesting to me because her route took her past Via Mia earlier which would have turned into Via Marisol and POSSIBLY could have been a shorter or more direct route.

4) question: perhaps the pin represents the location of where the photo was taken? Not where she is?

5) if she was at Lomitas Dr and Via Marisol which way did she turn at that intersection?

6) was she navigating in such a way to avoid hills?

7) knowing LE is very likely several steps ahead of our sleuthing, is there a reason they might have asked to stop the website updates last night after this specific pin? Was the tracker getting very close to a specific house/area that LE is investigating first before it's made public?

All MOO

 

[H.P. Loathecraft]

I've been looking at the last confirmed sighting photo in detail. Some thoughts:

1) on the tracking app the photo icon is 'pinned' at the intersection of Lomitas Dr and S Ave 59.

2) when i look at Google Street view, it looks like the photo of Alison is actually of her at Lomitas Dr and Via Marisol.

3) this is interesting to me because her route took her past Via Mia earlier which would have turned into Via Marisol and POSSIBLY could have been a shorter or more direct route.

4) question: perhaps the pin represents the location of where the photo was taken? Not where she is?

5) if she was at Lomitas Dr and Via Marisol which way did she turn at that intersection?

6) was she navigating in such a way to avoid hills?

7) knowing LE is very likely several steps ahead of our sleuthing, is there a reason they might have asked to stop the website updates last night after this specific pin? Was the tracker getting very close to a specific house/area that LE is investigating first before it's made public?

All MOO

Seems the photo was taken at Lomitas Dr. and S. Ave. 59. If she proceeded forward (the only direction she could go on Lomitas), then did she turn to her left or her right at Via Marisol? Or did she take a left or right on S. Ave. 59?

 

[TexLil]

Seems the photo was taken at Lomitas Dr. and S. Ave. 59. If she proceeded forward (the only direction she could go on Lomitas), then did she turn to her left or her right at Via Marisol? Or did she take a left or right on S. Ave. 59?

It appears to me (from street view) that she was past Ave 59, but just in case... from southbound Lomitas going left on Ave 59 looks very steep so i would guess to the right. Note that going right on Ave 59 appears to quickly dead end. Maybe five to six houses that way.

Note that the white line on the road in the confirmed photo matches Via Marisol's white line. Again, assuming left takes you up hill (and because she didn't turn on Via Mia earlier) I would think she turned right on Via Marisol which has a bike lane right there and leads to quite a lot of other options for her.

MOO

 

[H.P. Loathecraft]

It appears to me (from street view) that she was past Ave 59, but just in case... from southbound Lomitas going left on Ave 59 looks very steep so i would guess to the right. Note that going right on Ave 59 appears to quickly dead end. Maybe five to six houses that way.

Note that the white line on the road in the confirmed photo matches Via Marisol's white line. Again, assuming left takes you up hill (and because she didn't turn on Via Mia earlier) I would think she turned right on Via Marisol which has a bike lane right there and leads to quite a lot of other options for her.

MOO

Good catch.

Yeah, if she turned right on Via Marisol, her options are almost limitless. I really am wondering if she knows this area and she's been there before. Needless to say, this is a big search area, and if she's running away, it's made all the more difficult because you're looking for someone that's actively trying NOT to be found.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I'm guessing the image was taken from the house on the corner of Lomitas and S Ave 59tt, but Alison definitely appears to be heading onto Via Marisol.

As I mentioned in a previous post, she could be heading towards the area of Debs Park; or maybe crossing Arroyo Seco Parkway into Northeast Los Angeles.

 

[Maat99]

knowing LE is very likely several steps ahead of our sleuthing, is there a reason they might have asked to stop the website updates last night after this specific pin? Was the tracker getting very close to a specific house/area that LE is investigating first before it's made public?

That’s what I was thinking. They saw something that gave them a good idea of where she was heading and they don’t want the public swarming the area.

This family is amazingly organized with the tips and updates. I’m sure they are inundated with info. But my gut says that if they were just taking time to organize tips they wouldn’t ask for the search to stop. JMO.

One thing I noticed on the site is this search zone map - I think is an early pre-Google map iteration because it has the early locations that have since been ruled out. I notice that they had the area of the last sighting circled right at the start (South Pasadena). Most of the nearby cities are circled, but not all of them are. So there must be some inclusion/exclusion criteria they are using besides distance to the house. I’m wondering if they circled it because she has favorite places, or friends over there so they put it on the search zone list. So maybe when they saw that’s where she was heading it gave them some idea of where she might be? MOO

 

[truthfinder2019]

Nearby the last sighting there is a high school and a college prep, maybe she headed there to meet with a student she knows or she met online?
Last sighting is the lomitas dr crossing marisol, upper left of image.
Has anyone found her social media accounts?

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I can't prove this because I didn't take any timestamped screenshots of the website, but just FYI, I'm fairly sure the last image of Alison on Lomitas Drive was actually added to the tracker map *after* the notice was put up about pausing searches until they can organise the information they've received. If they were told to pause by LE, they still added this image afterwards.

This is the Google street view with Alison's image overlayed. I've marked out the patches and changes in colour of the road. Alison appears to be quite far right on the road, suggesting she *might* have been turning right.

Via Marisol is a much wider, multi-lane road than Collis Ave, so I can see why Alison didn't turn off Collis at Via Mia.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[TexLil]

I can't prove this because I didn't take any timestamped screenshots of the website, but just FYI, I'm fairly sure the last image of Alison on Lomitas Drive was actually added to the tracker map *after* the notice was put up about pausing searches until they can organise the information they've received. If they were told to pause by LE, they still added this image afterwards.

I believe you are correct on the timing. Scanning through postings it appears the 'stand down for searching' notice came out around 11pm Pacific and the latest confirmed sighting was mentioned here at around 1230am.

MOO

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I believe you are correct on the timing. Scanning through postings it appears the 'stand down for searching' notice came out around 11pm Pacific and the latest confirmed sighting was mentioned here at around 1230am.

MOO

TBH, I think the pause in searches might just be due to their confusion about where to search. When Alison first went missing, they thought they knew where she was going (her aunt's) and they searched accordingly.

Now they've found out Alison went somewhere else entirely. They might have some idea where she was going, but it's equally possible they have no idea and are struggling to figure out where to go next. If she crossed the parkway into Los Angeles, that's a huge search area. Likewise if she disappeared into Debs Park.

 

[TexLil]

Nearby the last sighting there is a high school and a college prep, maybe she headed there to meet with a student she knows or she met online?
Last sighting is the lomitas dr crossing marisol, upper left of image.
Has anyone found her social media accounts?

I haven't seen any social media for Alison.

The IG Help Find Alison page is very helpful but hasn't posted since last night's announcement.

 

[Mack the Knife]

Help Us Find Alison Chao

Help find missing child Alison Chao. Alison, a 15 years old girl who went missing on July 16, 2024 in Monterey Park, California.

www.alisonchao.com

At this time, we are pausing the organization of further search parties until we can thoroughly review and organize all the information. This will allow us to make informed decisions on the next steps.

It may be wishful thinking on my part, but IMO reading between the lines, it seems like they might be pausing canvassing efforts specifically, because they (now) have an idea of where she went or was headed, in which case it might not be the best use of resources for them to keep organizing people to get the word out and look for surveillance sightings.

 

[LAhiker]

The official website is taking a break from the updates as of Sat 11pm 7/20/24 Pacific time
From Help Us Find Alison Chao
**********

I imagine they have a LOT of info to comb through... and now that they know she was able to ride away from home at least 40-50min, it would be important to make sure further images are at the very least safe to release to the public (I can imagine scenario where she could be in danger if it's publicly shown where she might be...)

At this point I am super hopeful LE and the family have an idea of where she might be, and that she will be found safe.

Hug your loved ones! Goodnight.

While they may indeed be overwhelmed with info (and they're probably exhausted), I agree with those who think that the family or LE has figured something out. Maybe they figured out from her route where she might've been going, or maybe they got into her phone and figured something else out. I hope she's found safe soon.

JMO

 

[webraccoon2234]

I believe they paused the searches because of the darkness and the overflow of tips. The mom had her personal number as contact, I could just imagine how overwhelming. They did add the last photo after the pause post. I could not sleep so I checked right before I knocked out and it was about maybe an hour after they posted the pause. I think they’re just gathering and sifting through all tips and being careful not to miss anything important.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I can see it both ways.

If they have some idea where she went, they might not want to make that public. But if they think she went into Los Angeles, that's a whole different ball game than searching Monterey. It's not just a needle in a hay stack, it's the broken tip of a needle in a whole hay field.

Organising that kind of search would need some planning.

 

[webraccoon2234]

Nearby the last sighting there is a high school and a college prep, maybe she headed there to meet with a student she knows or she met online?
Last sighting is the lomitas dr crossing marisol, upper left of image.
Has anyone found her social media accounts?

A big section of Apartments as well if she went to the right of her last sighting.