Missing Iowa teens have police asking for public help: Des Moines PD

article

Police are asking the public’s help in locating the teens who authorities believe have voluntarily gone missing: Alexis Fuller (left) and Zayden Petersen (right). (Supplied)

DES MOINES, Iowa (FOX 9) - Two teens that are believed to have voluntarily gone missing, but are without prescribed medications, have Des Moines police asking the public’s help in locating them.

Missing Iowa teens

What we know:

The Des Moines Police Department says it's asking the public's help locating 17-year-old Alexis Fuller, last seen wearing blue medical-style scrubs, and 14-year-old Zayden Petersen, who was last seen wearing blue and purple medical-style scrubs.

Both were last seen late Saturday morning in the 900 block of SW Porter Avenue in Des Moines.

Previous efforts to locate them have been unsuccessful, police say.

What they're saying:

"Each year over the past three years, our officers have responded to an average of 780 calls for service reporting runaway juveniles," said Des Moines Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Paul Parizek in a statement. "Most are found with friends or family, or return home on their own. This case is unique because although they are voluntarily absent, they need their prescribed meds, and we have information that the potential exists for them to try to travel far away from Des Moines."

What you can do:

Anyone with information about their whereabouts is encouraged to call 911.