Robin Hardie was last seen by her mother on Friday around midday in the family's shoe store, New Shoez, just off the
Covington Police Department spokesperson Det. Daniel Seals said the department was between a "rock and a hard place," having run out of people to contact about her whereabouts.
"We have come to a point where we need to reach out to the community en masse instead of us going door to door," he said.
Hardie's mother, Vanessa Virgin, told police that she had last seen her home-schooled daughter Friday at the shoe store. Virgin reported that she and her 4-year-old son had taken a nap at the store, and when they woke up around 1:30 p.m., Hardie was gone. Virgin assumed her daughter had just gone home and didn't realize she was not at their house either until about 7:45 p.m.
Virgin said her daughter had run away in the past, but normally would come back by bedtime.
Seals said there were some elements that suggested the girl's disappearance might be more than a teenager running away. The teen did not take the kinds of items a person planning to leave for a while might take, such as toiletries. Hardie apparently did not have a cell phone, license, checking account or credit card, but did take with her a brightly colored backpack on wheels.
"We suspect she's with somebody," Seals said. "Whether she's in danger from that somebody we don't know yet."
So far, Hardie's family has received no communication or messages from friends about Hardie's whereabouts.
"It's not uncommon around the summer for a juvenile to be overdue," Seals said. "But not so often where they disappear and we have no contact, no notice."
Anyone with information about Robin Hardie is asked to contact CPD Lt. Mark Jones at (770) 385-2123. Anonymous tips can be left online at www.covingtonpolice.com/secretwitness.html
