The mother and older brother of a missing 14-year-old Virginia girl appeared alongside law enforcement officials at a press conference on Thursday to plead for the teenager’s safe return.
Isabel Hicks was last seen in her family home in Louisa County before she disappeared sometime after 1am on October 21, say investigators. She is thought to be traveling with her mother’s 34-year-old ex-boyfriend Bruce Lynch.
‘Isabel, I love you and I want you to come home,’ the girl’s mother, Courtney Lewis, said, wiping away tears. ‘And just let me know you’re OK.’
Courtney Lewis broke down in tears as she pleaded at a press conference in Virginia on Thursday night for her 14-year-old daughter, Isabel Hicks, to return. ‘Isabel, I love you and I want you to come home,’ the girl’s mother said
Isabel was last seen in her family home in Louisa County, Virginia. Investigators believe she disappeared sometime after 1am on October 21.
Isabel’s older brother, Blake Saylor (right), called her his ‘best friend’ and said she is missed
WTVR
FBI from the Richmond division have now joined the search for the missing child and Lynch. It is unknown at this time whether Isabel went with the man willingly.
Lynch is considered to be armed and potentially dangerous. Authorities are asking anyone who comes across the pair not to approach them but call police.
‘We won’t stop until she comes home safely,’ Major Donnie Lowe, of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office, said at Thursday’s joint press conference, as reported by Good Morning America.
Lowe said local, state and now federal law enforcement officers have been working around the clock to locate Hicks.
Investigators suspect Hicks and Lynch have managed to avoid detection by camping in wooded areas.
Officers believe she may be in the company of Bruce Lynch (left and right), a 34-year-old white male from Bumpass, who is described as five-feet-ten-inches, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Lynch is believed to be driving a silver blue Toyota Matrix, with a Virginia licence plate reading ‘VEM-9071.’
‘We miss you very much and we want you to come home,’ the girl’s brother, Blake Saylor, said. ‘Please just let us know you are safe however you can. I’m still your big brother and I’ll love you forever. I just need my best friend back. Please contact me however whenever you can.’
Lynch, from Bumpass, Virginia, is described as a white male, 5-foot 10-inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Police haven’t confirmed the connection between Hicks and Lynch, however posts on social media show that Lynch was at one time dating Isabel’s mother, Courtney Lewis – between at least 2014 to 2017 – and has known the girl since she was nine-years-old.
Isabel, meanwhile, is described as a white female with blonde hair and blue eyes. She’s 4-foot-11 and weighs roughly 120lbs.
Lynch is believed to be driving a silver blue Toyota Matrix, with a Virginia licence plate reading ‘VEM-9071.’
A picture shared by the Louis County Sheriff’s Office shows Lynch and Isabel together on what appears to be a family vacation or outing.
Police have not yet issued a warrant for Lynch’s arrest, nor have they publicly accused him of any wrongdoing.
Police have not yet issued a warrant for Lynch’s arrest, nor have they publicly accused him of any wrongdoing
Relatives of the missing teen have spoken out on social media, issuing desperate pleas for any information regarding her whereabouts.
Saylor, Isabel’s brother, said on Facebook that his sister had been ‘kidnapped’ and said the family ‘isn’t going to do anything crazy’ but will let authorities investigate the case and help being the young teen home.
Saylor added that he believes Lynch ‘deserves to rot in jail’.
Isabel’s mother, Courtney, has also posted on Facebook several times since her daughter vanished.
On Monday, 14 hours after she was reported missing, she said: ‘Please, please all hunters around us please go check your land he took camping/hunting gear so they may be in the woods.’
Police have not released any information about the connection between Hicks and Lynch, however posts on social media show that Lynch was at one time dating Isabel’s mother, Cortney Lewis (left), for a number of years and has known the girl since she was nine-years-old
Blake Saylor, Isabel’s brother said on Facebook that his sister had been ‘kidnapped’ and said the family ‘isn’t going to do anything crazy’ but will let authorities investigate the case and help being the young teen home
Lynch’s cousin, Matthew Lynch, told DailyMail.com he hasn’t seen Bruce since 2016 but says the 34-year-old doesn’t have any sort of criminal past which he knows of.
‘He’s always been very mild nature and very kind that I know,’ Matthew said. ‘I tried to reach out to him after I was sent some information [about the disappearance] but he never opened nor responded to my message.’
Matthew said Lynch appeared to be online less than an hour before he sent the message at 12.50pm Monday, but he hasn’t been online since.
‘So my thought is I hope it’s just a misunderstanding,’ he continued.
Anyone with information on Isabel’s whereabouts is asked to contact Louisa County Sheriff’s Office at (540)967-1234 or Louisa Crime Solvers at 800-346-1466.