Where is Ethan Villa? ‘Critically’ Missing Teen in California Vanished

California officials are searching for a “critically” missing teenager who mysteriously vanished on Monday.

Ethan Idohl Villa, 13, was last seen in Cudahy on the 4800 block of Elizabeth Street at 3:30 p.m., according to a bulletin shared on the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Instagram story.

Villa does not have any medical conditions or a history of running away, according to law enforcement.

Family members told officials they are concerned for his well-being.

Villa is five feet and two inches tall and weighs around 110 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a blue sweater with Gap brand lettering and black pants. He is Hispanic.

There is a variety of criteria that a missing person case must meet to be classified as critical in the state of California, including suspected crime or foul play, need for medical attention, no prior history of disappearing, kidnapping or parental abduction or mental impairment.

A critically missing young adult is one who is at an elevated risk of danger if not located as soon as possible due to the circumstances surrounding their disappearance.

The sheriff’s department is seeking the public’s help to locate Villa, according to an alert shared with Newsweek. Anyone with information about his disappearance should contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s East LA Station at (323) 264-4151.

Newsweek reached out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for additional information.

Missing Children Statistics

Over 65,000 children were reported missing in California last year. The largest cause of disappearances was runaway, which is defined as “missing child who has left home without the knowledge or permission of parents or guardian.” This category accounted for 63,856 disappearances.

Other types of disappearances included lost, catastrophe, stranger abduction, parental or family abduction, suspicious circumstances and unknown circumstances.

The number of missing children in California in 2023 was the highest reported since 2019.

Los Angeles County reported the largest number of missing children last year with a total of 14,397. Many of these cases were resolved, with 9,061 children returning, 3,617 located, 238 arrested and seven found dead.

Nearly 800,000 children are reported missing each year, according to Child Watch of North America. This means an average of 2,185 children are reported missing each day.

The most popular alert system to report missing children who have been abducted are Amber Alerts. Texas had the largest amount of Amber Alerts in 2022 with 31 issued. California issued six Amber Alerts in 2022.

“Of the 181 AMBER Alerts issued in this time frame, 180 cases resulted in a recovery, 16 of which were successfully recovered as a direct result of an AMBER Alert being issued,” the 2022 report said. “As of March 10, 2023, when statistics for this report were finalized for the AMBER Alerts issued in 2022, one child remained actively missing and four children were located deceased.”