A Michigan family who is looking for their missing daughter is getting threats and demands from people who allege they're holding the teen hostage, WXYZ reports. Ciera Milton said her 17-year-old daughter, Zion Foster, went missing from her Eastpointe home on Jan. 4 after a cousin picked her up and took her to the west side of Detroit.
After Foster disappeared, the family was told the teen was seen at a gas station near her last tracked location. Others, however, insisted that the 17-year-old is being held hostage and another demanded $7,000 for information on her disappearance.
“They’re coming with information stating that they have my baby held hostage or that she’s going to be sold or she’s going to be killed,” Milton said, according to WXYZ.
The devastated family received a text message from a person demanding money and threatening to take the teen to another state for sex trafficking. Milton said one tipster hacked her daughter's social media information and pretended to know all about her.
“I’m spastic, I’m desperate, I want my baby back,” the mother said, adding that she has already given $200 to people with information.
Foster's cousin has told the family that he hasn't seen the girl in a while.
“He was trying to talk to her and get with her and things like that. She’s underage, then I find out that drugs and things like that are also included in this. So, I don’t know what their lifestyle is. I don’t know what they’re about,” Milton said.
#Eastpointe, MI: – 17y/o Zion Rachelle Foster was last seen Tuesday (Jan. 4) at her home in the 22000 block of Melrose Court in Eastpointe.
Family members believe Foster is being held against her will…https://t.co/GA2U4IZkXA#HelpUsFindZionFoster pic.twitter.com/4vcBQeRXr6
— Blk & Missing FDN (@BAM_FI) January 11, 2022
Police said they have multiple investigators working on the case and are making it a top priority.
"We went to a couple addresses the family gave to us as possible places she could've gone, but they turned out to be vacant houses," Eastpointe Police Lt. Robert Koenigsmann said, according to The Detroit News. "We're still trying to follow up on all the leads."
Koenigsmann adds that there have been several missing person cases in the area in recent weeks.
"I don't know why there are so many cases lately, but it's been really busy," he said. "We're doing all we can with the resources we have."
Zion is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and 120 pounds, with shoulder-length blonde hair and brown eyes.
