The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is asking the public to help locate Melanie Ortiz, an 11-year-old Compton girl classified in its alert as critically missing. The department’s missing-person bulletin says she was last seen at 1 a.m. Saturday, October 17, on the 800 block of West 134th Street.
The bulletin describes Ortiz as Hispanic, 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, with shoulder-length red-dyed hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown shirt and black shorts. The department says her family is concerned for her well-being.
What the alert establishes—and what remains unknown
The alert gives a time, location and description to help identify Ortiz, but does not say what led to her disappearance or who last saw her leave the area. The department has not released further circumstances, so the statewide statistics below do not indicate what happened in this case.
The California Department of Justice’s 2024 status report records 38,998 reports in which a missing child returned on their own and 15,647 in which a child was located by law enforcement. Those are statewide report figures—not Los Angeles County totals or information about Ortiz—and provide broader context for the categories without describing the circumstances of any individual case.
How to share information
Anyone with information about Ortiz is asked to contact the LASD Compton Station detective bureau and ask for Detective R. Mejia at (310) 605-6500. The same number is listed for the station’s on-duty watch commander. People wishing to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477) or lacrimestoppers.org.
