A 14-year-old Palmdale girl has been missing since before dawn Saturday, and detectives say her family is deeply worried about her safety. Lina Khachatryan was last seen at 4 a.m. on the 38000 block of Clermont Avenue, wearing a black hoodie and grey sweatpants, before she vanished without a trace.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Palmdale Station is now asking the public for help finding her, according to a bulletin from LA County Sheriffs. Khachatryan is described as a white female, 5 feet 4 inches tall and 158 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Deputies have classified her as an at-risk missing juvenile, a designation that under California law can be triggered by concerns ranging from a lack of any prior runaway history to medical needs or fears of foul play, though the department has not said which specific factor applies in her case, according to California Penal Code § 14215.
The missing juvenile bulletin was created by the LASD Operations Center and carries the signature of Sheriff Robert G. Luna. It lists Khachatryan's case under NIC number M269021237 and FCN 2322622700125, and notes that her family is concerned for her well-being. A photo included with the advisory is dated 2026. The alert was also distributed through Nixle at 2:59 p.m. Saturday, per the Nixle notification.
What Triggers an At-Risk Classification
Once a report like Khachatryan's is filed, state law leaves no room for delay. California Penal Code § 14211 bars local police and sheriff's departments from imposing any waiting period before accepting a missing person report, even for a suspected runaway, and requires that such reports take priority over property crime investigations, according to the Bulldog Law firm's summary of the statute. Because Khachatryan is under 21 and has been designated at-risk, LASD policy required personnel to enter her case into the National Crime Information Center system within one hour of the report and to notify the department's Homicide Bureau Missing Persons Unit right away, per the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's own Manual of Policy and Procedures.
That same at-risk status is also what compelled deputies to issue a Be On the Lookout bulletin without delay across the jurisdiction, ensuring patrol officers in neighboring areas received her description quickly, according to a Lexipol missing-persons procedure document posted by OaklandCA.gov. Detective M. Pierson has been assigned as the point of contact for the investigation.
A Vast Search Area in the High Desert
Palmdale spans more than 106 square miles of high desert in the Antelope Valley, separated from the Los Angeles Basin by the San Gabriel Mountains and home to an estimated 160,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That sprawling footprint can complicate search efforts when a juvenile goes missing, making community tips especially valuable to investigators working the case out of the Palmdale Station at 750 East Avenue Q.
State data underscores just how much public help matters in cases like this one. Roughly one in six missing children is found because a member of the public recognizes their photograph and alerts law enforcement, according to the California Department of Justice. In 2025 alone, California law enforcement agencies logged 60,438 reports of missing children statewide, the department's tracking shows.
Nationally, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children assisted with 32,167 missing children cases in 2025, with 92% classified as endangered runaways and an overall resolution rate of 90% within the same year, according to the organization's own impact data. Those figures offer some context for families waiting on word, though they do not predict the outcome of any individual case.
How to Help or Report Information
Anyone with information about Khachatryan's whereabouts is asked to contact the Palmdale Station directly at (661) 272-2400 and ask for Detective Pierson. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), submit information through the P3 Tips mobile app, or visit lacrimestoppers.org.
The Sheriff's Information Bureau, located at 211 West Temple Street in Los Angeles, can also be reached at 213-229-1700 for media inquiries related to the case. Residents can sign up for urgent LASD text alerts by texting their zip code to 888777. This is not the first time Palmdale deputies have turned to the public for help in an at-risk juvenile case; a 12-year-old vanished from Palmdale earlier this month before being located, and a similar search in 2023 ended with a missing Palmdale resident found safe.
