Texas Student, 18, Goes Missing Days Before Cross-Country Road Trip to Start College Scholarship

Texas student Camilla Fuentes, 18, is missing after she was last seen on Thursday, Aug. 13, days before she was due to start college.

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A teenager in Texas has gone missing days before she was due to start college, her family and police have said

Camilla Fuentes, 18, was last seen in the Dallas suburb of Rowlett, on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 13, and her car was later found outside her workplace

Her passport and birth certificate are missing, but she left her phone and keys behind

A Texas teenager has gone missing just days before she was due to start college.

Camilla Fuentes, 18, was last seen in the city of Rowlett, an eastern suburb of Dallas, at about 4:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, Aug. 13, the Rowlett Police Department shared in a statement.

Her vehicle was later found in a restaurant parking lot outside her workplace, a Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, a few miles away in North Garland, per NBC affiliate KXAS. Her phone and keys were left behind.

The recent Hockaday School graduate has a scholarship to Villanova University in Pennsylvania to study civil engineering, the outlet reported.

She was due to join her family on a cross-country road trip to the college before classes began on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Her possessions remain packed in a corner of her family’s living room, ready for school.

“I can’t breathe sometimes,” Diana Decanini, Camilla’s mom, told KXAS. “I need my baby.”

Camilla’s family described the teenager as an academic and sporty student, who was also involved in the school orchestra and coached a youth soccer team. They added that she never previously showed signs of depression, making her disappearance more confusing for them.

“I still feel like I’m dreaming and that I’m going to wake up tomorrow and she’s going to call me,” Clarissa Fuentes, her older sister, told KXAS.

The family told the outlet that Camilla’s passport and birth certificate are no longer in the lock box where she kept them, while they have turned over her phone and personal items to the police to aid them in their search efforts.

Her dad, John Fuentes, told KXAS that the family wants her back home and needs to know that she’s okay.

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“My daughter doesn’t believe that bad people exist in the world,” Decanini added. “I think someone is taking advantage of her goodness.”

Camilla is described as being 5 feet 6 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes. Police urged anyone with information to call Det. Cruz Hernandez at 469-628-5597 or 972-412-6294, or email chernandez@rowlett.com.

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PEOPLE reached out to the Rowlett Police Department for updates but did not immediately hear back.

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