A 14-year-old girl has been missing from Philadelphia's Fairhill neighborhood since late Tuesday night, and police have classified her as an endangered missing juvenile as they press the search forward. Xhariah Harper was last seen around 10:30 p.m. on the 2200 block of North 5th Street, wearing a black t-shirt, black shorts, and purple Crocs. She is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing 207 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
The Philadelphia Police Department published its official missing alert for Harper on August 7, confirming her disappearance the day before and her assignment to the city's 26th Police District, according to Newport Dispatch. The 2200 block of North 5th Street sits within Fairhill, a neighborhood patrolled by the 26th District in the city's East Police Division, per the Philadelphia Police Department. Investigators are urging anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact the East Detective Division or call 911.
Why Police Use the Endangered Designation
Cases handled out of the 26th District are typically directed to the department's East Detective Division, the unit responsible for major criminal investigations and missing person cases across North and East Philadelphia, according to reporting from Impacto Media. That designation of endangered does not automatically mean police believe Harper has been abducted. Under Pennsylvania State Police administrative regulations, a Missing Endangered Person Advisory is used when law enforcement determines a missing person faces special risk due to factors like age, health, disability, or hazardous conditions, not necessarily evidence of a crime.
That distinction matters because Pennsylvania law limits AMBER Alerts strictly to verified child abductions involving imminent risk of death or serious injury, per WVIA. Missing youth who are runaways or otherwise considered endangered without proof of abduction are instead managed under MEPA or local police endangered-juvenile protocols, which is the pathway used in Harper's case. The dossier does not specify what particular circumstances led police to apply the endangered label to her disappearance, and that detail remains unclear.
A Broader Pattern of Local Cases
Harper's disappearance was one of several juvenile missing person notices the Philadelphia Police Department released during the first week of August, including alerts for missing teenagers out of the 19th and 22nd Police Districts on August 7. Hoodline has previously covered similar searches for missing teens from other Philadelphia districts, including a 14-year-old from the 26th District last year and another juvenile from the same district in 2024.
National data offers some context for families navigating these searches. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported that it assisted law enforcement with 32,167 missing child cases across the country in 2025, with 90 percent of those children recovered safely, according to statistics published by MissingKids.org. The organization also estimated that roughly 1 in 7 missing children cases submitted to it in 2024 and 2025 involved youth at risk of child sex trafficking, underscoring why police often move quickly to elevate the risk status of missing teenagers.
How to Report Information
The Philadelphia Police Department's East Detective Division can be reached directly at 215-686-3243 for tips related to Harper's case. The department also maintains an anonymous 24-hour tip hotline at 215-686-TIPS (8477), along with an online portal that lets community members upload photos, video, or location details straight to investigators. Families facing cross-jurisdictional searches can also turn to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's 24-hour hotline at 1-800-843-5678, which is funded by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to help coordinate searches when missing youth may have traveled beyond city lines. It remains unknown whether investigators believe Harper is still within Philadelphia or may have left the area.
