Paramount Woman, 37, With Seizure Disorder Vanishes, Deputies Ask Public for Help

A 37-year-old Paramount woman who suffers from seizures has not been seen since Monday, and investigators say they are worried about her safety. Tacoyia Audreania Freeman was last contacted in the area of Howe Street and Arthur Avenue in Paramount, and detectives have classified her as an at-risk missing person because of her medical condition.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced it is asking the public for help locating Freeman and reported there is concern for her well-being, according to a bulletin posted by LA County Sheriffs. The bulletin describes Freeman as a Black woman standing 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 125 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. The photo distributed alongside the alert was taken on July 31, 2026, just weeks before she went missing.

Because Freeman suffers from seizures, her case falls under a specific legal category in California. Under California Penal Code Section 14215, a missing person is legally defined as at-risk if there are indications the individual needs medical attention, is mentally impaired, has no pattern of running away, or may be a victim of foul play. That designation is not merely a label — it triggers strict statutory timelines.

What the At-Risk Label Requires of Investigators

California Penal Code Section 14211 mandates that once a missing person is determined to be at risk, law enforcement must issue a local Be On the Lookout bulletin without delay and electronically transmit the report to the California Department of Justice within two hours. State regulations also strictly prohibit agencies from imposing mandatory waiting periods before taking a missing person report, and require that cases involving medical risk be prioritized over property crime investigations. Those rules explain why Freeman's report moved quickly through the system despite her disappearance being reported the same day she was last contacted.

Paramount itself does not have its own police department. The city contracts its law enforcement and public safety services from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which assigns 30 sworn and support personnel to the municipality. Because of that arrangement, Freeman's case has been routed to specialized investigators rather than a local city police force.

Within LASD, missing person investigations across the department's 42 contract cities are coordinated with the help of detectives assigned to the Homicide Bureau's Missing Persons Detail, based in Monterey Park. The bulletin directs anyone with information to contact that unit at 323-890-5500, attention Detective J. Bailey. The Sheriff's Homicide Bureau is located at 1 Cupania Circle in Monterey Park, and the department, led by Sheriff Robert G. Luna, is the largest sheriff's department in the country, covering more than 4,000 square miles of Los Angeles County.

A Notable Gap in California's Alert System

Freeman's age puts her outside the reach of one of California's specialized emergency notification tools. The state established the Ebony Alert program under Senate Bill 673 in January 2024 to issue broadcast advisories and highway message signs for missing Black youth and young women, but the law's criteria cap eligibility at age 25. At 37, Freeman does not qualify, leaving her search reliant on standard LASD bulletins, Nixle alerts, and Crime Stoppers outreach rather than a dedicated statewide broadcast.

That policy boundary sits against a larger backdrop. According to 2022 National Crime Information Center statistics, Black women and girls accounted for more than 36 percent of all missing females reported in the United States — 97,924 out of 271,493 cases — despite representing roughly 14 percent of the nation's female population. Lawmakers cited those figures when they created the Ebony Alert framework, though the program's age ceiling means adults like Freeman fall outside its scope.

The neighborhood where Freeman was last contacted, near Howe Street and Arthur Avenue in the 90723 ZIP code, is a dense residential pocket of Paramount featuring multi-family apartment complexes and single-family homes near Rosecrans Avenue. It remains unclear what led up to her disappearance or whether she had access to seizure medication at the time she was last seen.

How to Report a Tip

Anyone with information about Freeman's whereabouts is asked to call the LASD Homicide Bureau's Missing Persons Detail at 323-890-5500. Those who prefer to remain anonymous can contact Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS, which accepts tips through its hotline, web portal, and P3 Tips mobile app, with cash rewards possible for information that helps solve the case. The Sheriff's Information Bureau, located at 211 West Temple Street in Los Angeles, can also be reached at its non-emergency line, 213-229-1700.

Residents can also sign up for Nixle alerts by email or text, or text their ZIP code to 888777 for urgent local notifications; standard text messaging rates may apply. This is the second at-risk missing person case LASD has publicized this week, following a Santa Clarita search for Anthony McCabe, 47, also handled by the Homicide Bureau's Missing Persons Detail.