DaCara Thompson was last seen near Jasmine Terrace and Riggs Road on Aug. 22.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. — A Maryland family is pleading for help after their 19-year-old daughter disappeared nearly a week ago.
On the night of Aug. 22, Daniel Thompson says his daughter DaCara Thompson, who lives with him, left their house.
“She just said I’m going out. I’ll be back,” he told WUSA9.
But, when she didn’t return about an hour later, he called her, but no response. At 11:50 p.m., he sent her a text.
He wrote, “I love you. I’m about to go to bed. I was just checking on you <3”.
She immediately responded via text, “I got gas & I’m out. I should be back soon. I love you too. Goodnight <3”.
He told WUSA9 he woke up around 10 o’clock the next morning, and didn’t see his daughter or her car parked outside. He called and texted her, but got no response. He checked with her mother, but she also hadn’t heard from their daughter.
“We both tried to communicate with her several times, phone calls, texts, everything, and she was not responsive to both of us, which was very unusual because she always responds,” explained Carmen Thompson.
She explained that DaCara is the youngest of five, and they all share locations through the Find My Phone app. When she checked’ DaCara’s location, she saw that it was turned off, and that the last spot it was turned on at was near the intersection of Jasmine Terrace and Riggs Road. Since Daniel Thompson was closer to the address, he headed there.
“As soon as he pulled up, he said, ‘The car is here,'” said Carmen Thompson.
He told WUSA9 that his daughter’s SUV was parked illegally, on the wrong side of the street, and in front of a fire hydrant. He immediately called the police.
He says they told him he should take the car home.
“They said it’s a chance it would be towed if it stayed there, because it was parked in front of a fire hydrant. So they said just take the car when she comes out in the morning, if she sees the car gone, she gonna have to call because the car is gone, whether she thinks it’s towed or stolen,” said Daniel Thompson.
Inside the car, he found her purse. “It had $60 cash in it. It had her driver’s license and debit cards, bank cards, and her house keys,” he said.
A neighbor shared surveillance footage with the family and police, showing someone who appears to be DaCara getting out of the SUV that was parked on Jasmine Terrace and walking toward Riggs Road.
“I was under the impression that because everything was sitting in the seat, maybe she thought she was coming right back because the only thing she had with her was her phone and her key fob. So she had her phone in her key fob and like I said, once she got to that location at some point it was all disabled and she never came back to that spot,” said Carmen Thompson.
She told WUSA9 that she went to the location that same day, and sat there and waited.
“I sat there for 2 days, for 48 hours, just to see if she or someone else would come back to look for the car, and nobody ever came back to that spot to look for that car,” she said, as she fought back tears.
She told WUSA9 she feels in her gut that something is not right, but she’s staying positive.
“I’m trying to stay optimistic at this point. I’m holding on to hope. I’m fighting. I hope she’s fighting, you know, any chance she can get to try to get away if she can, you know. I hope she can, at some point, get away and just go ask somebody for help, ask someone to call 911, just something, but I don’t know. I’m hanging on to hope that we will get her back,” said Carmen Thompson.
She explained that her daughter would never go this long without communicating. She also said her daughter’s bank account has gone untouched.
“She hasn’t used any money, so I’m like, what is she eating? She has the same clothes for seven days, for seven days, so I’m like something has to be wrong. Somebody has her, somebody has her,” she said.
They’ve since spread the word with fliers and social media, and they’ve received an “enormous outpouring” of community support.
“I just wanna thank everybody for the support that’s greatly appreciated because it’s giving me a lot of strength to keep going, just to keep going, I feel very uplifted,” the Thompsons explained.
They’re asking people to continue searching, and if they think they recognize her, take a picture and call 911.
As they wait and pray, the family has one message for their daughter.
“We love you so much. Just come home. Just come home,” Carmen said. “We want her home. We want her home.”
If you have any information about where DaCara may be, contact Prince George’s County Police at (301) 772-8970.