A 24-year-old Tucson mother and her 4-year-old daughter have not been seen since Sunday afternoon, and police say they need the public's help finding them. Kathian Albina De La Cruz Cifuentes and her daughter were last spotted around 2 p.m. near the intersection of East 22nd Street and South Kolb Road on the city's Eastside, according to the Tucson Police Department.
The Tucson Police Department is asking community members to keep an eye out for the pair, as reported by KVOA. Cifuentes was last seen wearing a light pink shirt and dark pants, while her daughter was wearing a purple shirt. Police have not released details about the circumstances surrounding their disappearance.
A High-Visibility Last Known Location
The spot where the mother and daughter were last seen sits at one of the busiest commercial crossroads in Pima County. The intersection of 22nd Street and Kolb Road handles nearly 100,000 vehicles daily across surrounding shopping plazas and transit stops, according to commercial real estate listings tracked by Real Estate Daily News. That kind of traffic volume means surveillance cameras from nearby businesses and dashcam footage from passing commuters could become key pieces of any investigation, though it remains unknown whether such footage has surfaced.
The station's report does not indicate whether police suspect foul play or whether the disappearance is tied to a custody dispute or another external factor. Those questions remain open as the search continues.
State and Federal Alert Systems Available to Investigators
Arizona has more than one legal mechanism for broadcasting a missing person case statewide if local leads dry up. Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 41-1728.01, known as Emily's Law, the Arizona Department of Public Safety can issue a Turquoise Alert for missing endangered people under 65 when the disappearance involves unexplained or suspicious circumstances and local investigative resources have been exhausted. Separately, A.R.S. § 41-1728 governs SAFE Alerts, which allow investigating agencies to request emergency broadcasts for missing individuals of any age with cognitive or developmental disabilities, or those believed to be in peril, per the department's SAFE Alert guidelines.
Should either alert be activated, the state has infrastructure ready to spread the word quickly. The Arizona Department of Public Safety maintains 193 electronic highway message boards statewide, including 108 in urban corridors, that can be switched on to inform regional drivers during an active missing person alert.
Federal Reporting Rules and National Recovery Rates
Because Cifuentes is under 21, federal law requires immediate action on the paperwork side of the investigation. Suzanne's Law, codified within the PROTECT Act of 2003, mandates that local law enforcement agencies enter missing person reports for individuals under 21 into the FBI's National Crime Information Center database without any waiting period, according to the Office of Justice Programs. Missing person cases in Arizona also feed into the state's Missing Persons Clearinghouse, which generates public posters and coordinates search data across jurisdictions, per the Governor's Office of Youth, Faith and Family.
Nationally, the odds of a safe recovery are relatively strong. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children assisted law enforcement with 29,568 missing child reports in 2024, and 91 percent of those children were recovered safely, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Complex missing person investigations in Pima County often draw in multiple agencies working together, including the Tucson Police Department, the Pima County Sheriff's Department, and the FBI's Tucson Resident Agency, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
How to Report a Sighting or Tip
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Cifuentes or her daughter is urged to call 911 immediately, police said. Residents can also reach the Tucson Police Department through 311 or at 520-791-4444 for non-emergency information, according to the City of Tucson. Those who wish to remain anonymous can submit tips through the Pima County 88-CRIME hotline at 520-882-7463 or via the P3 Tips app, a service that guarantees anonymity by assigning confidential tip numbers rather than recording names or phone numbers, according to 88-CRIME. The nonprofit also offers cash rewards of up to $2,500 for anonymous tips that lead to a felony arrest or indictment in local criminal or missing person cases.
