Ritu Jha-
The search is on for two teenage girls from San Ramon who have been on the run since March 16, allegedly a reaction to their parents taking their phones away.
The hunt for the girls, Marybel “Ruby” Gonzalez, and Aaminah “Mina” Khan, both 16. involves the police, friends, family, community, and even neighboring cities.
Craig Stevens, chief of San Ramon police, described the search to indica.
“We have entered the girls into the missing person database, sent out an informational bulletin to other law enforcement agencies, conducted area checks, spoken with family and friends, collaborated with school officials, and disseminated their information and photos on our social media and other media platforms,” Stevens said. “We are following up on all leads as they develop. At this point, our primary concern about their safety revolves around their age. We are hopeful that they will be located soon and returned to their families.”
Mina, a freshman, and Ruby, a sophomore, are from the Dougherty Valley High School, part of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. They were last seen together near their school on Wednesday, March 16.
Mina is 5’ tall, has black shoulder-length hair, and was wearing baggy jeans and a hoodie. Ruby is 5’3”, has black hair and was last seen wearing black jeans, a black zip-up sweater, and black Converse shoes. Both students were carrying black backpacks.
“Our thoughts are with both families during this difficult time and we all hope these students are soon found safe and sound,” Evan Powell, principal of DVHS, stated in an email to parents.
Sabina Zafar, council member, City of San Ramon, told indica that detectives on the case told her they believe the girls haven’t left the town.
She said the principal and students are coordinating efforts to try and find where the girls maybe. She said the standard measure of tracking their cell phones was out of the question “because the parents took away the phones.”
“Both the parents took the phone and found [out that] the girls were going to meet someone,” she said. “It’s not that somebody kidnapped [them]. These girls left home willingly.”
Zafar said that the police may try to trace the location of their laptops, if they have taken them.
Zafar said one of the girls is of South Asian descent, being Pakistani, while the other is Latinx. She said the girls’ extreme step could be part of the post-pandemic toll on youth’s mental health.
“I see kids are acting [strange] and [I have] definitely seen mental health issues in young people,” she said.
