A 16-year-old Lawndale girl has been missing since the very first minutes of Sunday, and detectives are now asking the public for help finding her. Arely Madai Rucuch was last seen at midnight on the 4500 block of West 172nd Street, and her family says they are concerned for her well-being.
Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are classifying Rucuch as an at-risk missing juvenile, according to a bulletin issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. She is described as a Hispanic female standing 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Her last known clothing is unknown, and the bulletin lists her under National Crime Information Center number M939044085 and file control number 2322622800056.
The bulletin was issued under the name of Sheriff Robert G. Luna and marked as a special missing juvenile advisory. Anyone with information is asked to contact the LASD South Los Angeles Station Detective Bureau, located at 1310 West Imperial Highway in Los Angeles, at 323-820-6700, attention Det. D. Wills.
How Lawndale's Missing Persons Cases Are Handled
Lawndale does not run its own police department. The city contracts its law enforcement services to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, with primary detective and field operations run out of the South Los Angeles Station, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. That station, on West Imperial Highway, opened in 2010 to replace the former Lennox Station and also covers unincorporated communities including Athens, Lennox, Del Aire, El Camino Village, and Wiseburn.
Under California Penal Code Section 14211, law enforcement agencies are required to accept missing person reports immediately, without any waiting period, and must take immediate investigative steps when the missing person is under 21 or classified as at risk, per Bulldog Law. Separately, under Penal Code Section 14215(b) and LASD Department Procedure 5-09/120.00, a juvenile can be classified as at risk based on factors such as indications of foul play, an urgent need for medical attention, a lack of runaway history, physical or mental impairment, or potential parental abduction, as outlined by the PARS Public Viewer.
A Statewide Pattern of Missing Youth Cases
Los Angeles County recorded 13,792 missing children reports with the California Department of Justice in 2023, the highest volume among all 58 California counties, according to the California Department of Justice. Statewide in 2024, the department processed 60,153 missing children reports, with 38,998 of those juveniles returning on their own and another 15,647 located by law enforcement agencies.
Nationally, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children supported 32,167 missing children cases in 2025 and achieved a 90 percent recovery rate, though runaway incidents accounted for 92 percent of all reported cases, per MissingKids.org. Those figures don't determine the outcome in Rucuch's case, but they offer context for how often families and detectives are able to locate at-risk teens once a search begins.
How to Report a Tip
Anyone with information on Rucuch's whereabouts can call the LASD South Los Angeles Station Detective Bureau directly, or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the P3 Tips mobile app or at lacrimestoppers.org. Residents can also sign up for Nixle alerts from the sheriff's department by texting their zip code to 888777.
California law also gives investigators broader tools if a case like this remains open. Under Government Code Section 8594.11, agencies can request an Endangered Missing Advisory through the California Highway Patrol when a missing person is believed to be in danger due to age, health, environment, or suspicious circumstances, according to the California Highway Patrol. Separately, the state created the nation's first Ebony Alert system in 2024 under Senate Bill 673, allowing law enforcement to request public highway and broadcast alerts specifically for missing Black youth and young women ages 12 to 25, as reported by CBS Los Angeles. It remains unclear whether either advisory type has been requested in Rucuch's case.
The similar Lawndale teen case from December 2023 also involved a 16-year-old girl classified as at risk, underscoring that these searches are not uncommon for the South Los Angeles Station's coverage area. As of this bulletin, Rucuch's whereabouts remain unknown, and her family continues to wait for word on her safety.
