A 13-year-old girl named Natalie has been missing since Sunday evening, when she was last seen in the 2500 block of Dexter Avenue North in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood at around 7 p.m. She was wearing a tank top and a dolphin necklace, according to the Seattle Police Department, which is now asking anyone who spots her to call 911.
The department's public appeal, shared under case number 26-235014, describes Natalie as an Asian female standing 5 feet tall, weighing about 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. According to the Seattle Police Department, she was last seen wearing the same tank top pictured in the missing-child bulletin. The department cautioned that the preliminary details it released are subject to change as the investigation continues.
The public broadcast did not go out until Wednesday afternoon, roughly three days after Natalie was last seen. That gap between her disappearance and the public alert was highlighted by MyNorthwest, which reported the Sunday evening timeline and the Queen Anne location. The outlet's account also placed the last sighting along the eastern slope of Queen Anne near Lake Union, an area MyNorthwest reported to be along a high-density transit corridor.
A Transit Corridor Near Lake Union
The 2500 block of Dexter Avenue North sits on a stretch connected by major King County Metro bus lines, including Route 62 and the C Line, according to King County Metro. That corridor links South Lake Union directly to Seattle's northern neighborhoods, giving the area heavy foot and bus traffic at most hours of the day.
While the public alert came three days after Natalie was last seen, that gap does not mean investigators sat idle. Federal law under the National Child Search Assistance Act requires state and local law enforcement agencies to enter every missing child report for someone under 18 into the National Crime Information Center database within two hours of receiving it, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Seattle Police Department policy mirrors that mandate, requiring officers to transmit missing person reports to the department's Data Center immediately so they are logged in both statewide and national databases within two hours for any missing youth under 21.
Why No Statewide Alert Yet
Washington law allows for a broader statewide alert, known as an Endangered Missing Person Advisory, to be issued through the Washington State Patrol when a missing person is believed to be in danger due to age, health, or an inability to return safely without help, per Revised Code of Washington 13.60.010. Those advisories, which include Silver Alerts and Missing Indigenous Person Alerts, are reserved for cases meeting specific criteria beyond a routine police social media post. The Washington State Patrol's 2025 Annual Report shows the agency issued 39 Endangered Missing Persons Advisories, 13 AMBER Alerts, and 132 Silver Alerts statewide last year, underscoring how selectively those broader alerts are deployed.
It remains unclear from available information whether Natalie's case has met the threshold for a statewide advisory or whether it is being handled solely through the department's standard missing-child bulletin and follow-up investigation. Follow-up work on missing minor cases at the Seattle Police Department typically falls to its Missing Persons Squad, a unit within the department's Special Investigations section that coordinates with regional task forces and clearinghouses.
No Waiting Period for Police to Act
Contrary to a common public misconception, federal guidelines and Washington State standards prohibit law enforcement agencies from imposing any mandatory waiting period, such as 24 or 48 hours, before accepting a missing child report and starting an active investigation. Officers are required to accept missing juvenile reports and begin working them immediately upon notification, regardless of how much time has passed since the child was last seen.
National data offers some reassurance amid the uncertainty. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported assisting with 32,167 missing child cases across the country in 2025, with about 90% of those children successfully recovered. NCMEC data also shows that roughly 93% of missing children reported to the organization are classified as endangered runaways, with young people aged 15 to 17 making up 74% of those runaway reports.
Seattle police have not released additional details about the circumstances surrounding Natalie's disappearance beyond the initial bulletin. Anyone who sees her is asked to call 911 immediately.
