Two African-American Girls On The Run

Press Release: Runaway Juveniles
Agency: Southwest Station
Station Area: Southwest
Incident Date: February 7, 2012 Time: 8:00 AM
Incident Location: Dorothy McElhinney Middle School 35125 Briggs Road, Murrieta

Details:

On February 7, 2012, at about 4:00 PM, deputies from the Southwest Station of Riverside County Sheriff's Department responded to a report of two runaway juveniles from Dorothy McElhinney Middle School, which is located in the unincorporated area outside of Murrieta.

When deputies arrived, they discovered that two African-American female students had arrived at school separately around 8:00 AM that morning, then met together at the front of the school and left the school grounds on foot together.

The girls are described as:

12 year old Odelea Justin, an African-American female, approximately 5'5" tall, 118 lbs., with black hair, brown eyes, and light brown hair
13 year old Kira Keys, an African-American female, approximately 5'3" tall, 130 lbs., with black hair, brown eyes, and light brown skin

Investigators from the Southwest Station of Riverside County Sheriff's Department assumed the investigation. There is currently no reason to suspect foul play. All evidence indicates these girls left the school together without coercion from anyone else.

This is an active and ongoing investigation and no further details are available regarding this case. Anyone with additional information concerning these runaway girls is encouraged to contact the Southwest Station Detective's Bureau at 951.696.3000.

I read and re-read this press release a couple of times to be sure that both of these girls are being described as "African-American." Of course, IMO anybody can assign themselves to any ethnic category they want. They could both say they are Polish-American and I wouldn't contest it. Africa is a big place and over the millennia every nation and race on Earth has colonized there, traveled there, settled there, traded there. Get born there, migrate to America and settle here (or be descended from someone who did), and you're an African-American, no doubt. But I don't know if the term "African-American" would help me pick Kira Keys out of the crowd. And while I'm chattering, don't they both look considerably more mature than their stated ages?

UPDATE: Seven days later and the Sheriff's Department has corrected this press release to indicate that Kira Keys is Filipino. We can only speculate why she is not "Filipino-American."

ANOTHER UPDATE: On the same day that the Sheriff's Department corrected their description of Kira Keys, the girls were found:

On Thursday, February 16, 2012, Southwest Station Investigators located both girls together; the girls were safe, in good health, and uninjured. The investigation revealed both girls had run away from the school of their own free will, without assistance from any third parties, and had not been the victim of any crimes while they were gone.

Both children were returned to their parents during the evening of February 16, 2012, and no further action is anticipated.