Joliet police ask for help looking for missing teen girl

The Joliet Police Department is requesting help from the public to locate a missing teenage girl with mental illness.

Claudia Marie Contreras, 15, was last seen around 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 30 at her home in the 200 block of Ross Street in Joliet, according to her parents. They and Joliet police said the teenager ran away from home.

Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said the detective on the case believes "pretty strongly" that Contreras is in the Joliet area. Her parents said she has no money, cellphone or means of transportation.

A missing persons poster describes Contreras as a Hispanic female. She is 5-foot-1 and weighs about 100 pounds, according to the poster, and has long brown hair dyed blonde and brown eyes.

When she ran away, she was wearing black leggings, a black hoodie with green lettering that spells out "savage." The sleeves of the hoodie have a dragon on both sides. She was also wearing black tennis shoes.

Her stepfather, Eugenio Luna, said this is not the first time she has run away. He said last month she attempted to take a train to another suburb.

While her family hasn't had contact with Contreras since she ran away, Luna said she has been spotted in Joliet, including a week ago at a house in the 300 block of North Hickory Street.

English confirmed that a Joliet police officer was sent out to the house on Hickory Street. They weren't able to locate Contreras.

Luna added that just last Monday, some friends of a family member said they saw his stepdaughter walking along Collins Street heading east. Her parents and police officers went to the area to try to find her but could not.

Luna added he thinks his stepdaughter isn't with anyone and is simply trying to find places to stay. He said she doesn't have any way of getting transportation.

"I believe she's just kind of walking around," Luna said. "I don't think she's really going anywhere in the daytime."

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Contreras is asked to call the Joliet Police Department at 815-724-3100.