Piqua police are asking the public for help finding two teenage sisters who have not been seen since late August. Lillian Donnelly, 16, and Emily Donnelly, 15, were last seen leaving their family's residence in the 600 block of Miami Street at 5:30 p.m. on August 26, and investigators now believe the girls may have already left the Piqua area.
Nine Days Later, Police Go Public
The public appeal, issued Friday, came more than a week after the sisters were first reported missing, according to the Springfield News-Sun. That gap between the girls' disappearance and the department's public request does not reflect any delay in the investigation itself. Under Section 2901.30 of the Ohio Revised Code, law enforcement agencies statewide are legally barred from enforcing any waiting period before accepting and investigating a missing child report, meaning Piqua police would have been required to act on the case immediately after it was filed.
Once a child is reported missing in Ohio, the report is entered into the state Law Enforcement Automated Data System, which automatically syncs with the FBI's National Crime Information Center for nationwide visibility. That interstate sharing becomes especially relevant here, since police believe the sisters may no longer be within the Piqua area.
Descriptions Released by Investigators
Both sisters are described as standing about 5 feet tall. Lillian has dirty blonde hair with sections dyed blue, pierced ears and nose, and weighs about 100 pounds. Emily has brown eyes and brown hair also with sections dyed blue, freckles, pierced ears, and weighs about 90 pounds; she was reportedly last seen wearing blue jeans, per the same account from the Springfield News-Sun.
Neither an AMBER Alert nor an Endangered Missing Child Alert has been reported in connection with the case. Under Ohio protocols, an AMBER Alert requires confirmed abduction, a credible threat of immediate death or serious bodily harm, and specific descriptive details about a suspect or vehicle — criteria that explicitly exclude standard runaway cases. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation can also issue an Endangered Missing Child Alert for children believed to be at risk of serious harm even when AMBER Alert criteria aren't met, distributing the notice through targeted digital channels rather than the statewide Wireless Emergency Alert system.
How the Case Fits Statewide Numbers
The disappearance arrives against a backdrop of statewide data released by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. According to the 2025 Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse Report, law enforcement agencies across the state received 15,367 missing children reports in 2025, with 97.8 percent — 15,024 children — safely recovered by year's end. Miami County itself recorded 27 missing children reports in 2025, according to county-level data reported by WHIO TV, a small fraction compared with neighboring Montgomery County's 2,433 cases that same year.
The same annual report, as detailed by the Scioto Post, documented 7,656 runaway cases statewide in 2025, compared with just 22 noncustodial parental abduction cases across all of Ohio. No information in the case so far indicates which category, if any, applies to the Donnelly sisters' disappearance.
Where To Report Information
Piqua's 911 and non-emergency call handling runs through the Miami County Communication Center, which staffs 18 full-time telecommunicators covering dispatch for Piqua, Troy, Tipp City, and county sheriff operations. Anyone with information about Lillian or Emily Donnelly's whereabouts is asked to contact the Miami County Communications Center at 937-440-9911.
