Since Starita Miller’s daughter went missing more than a week ago she has feared the worst every time the phone rings.

Sixteen-year-old Alexis Sands mysteriously vanished last week Monday.

The last time her mother saw her, she was walking with her friends to her school, C.V. Bethel.

“She and her two friends were just laughing and talking. She told me not to touch something she left in the fridge and that she was going to get it when school was out,” Ms. Miller told The Journal yesterday.

“I waited for her; I thought she was having a late day at the library and she didn’t come. The days went by and I went to the [police] station and reported it. They told me that they put it through the missing persons report.”

Since then, Ms. Miller’s days have been spent liaising with police and grilling Alexis’ friends.

“I spoke to her friends and I asked if anyone had heard from her. Everyone is like they don’t know or they haven’t seen her,” she said.

Officers from the Urban Renewal Office in Pinewood have now gotten involved.

The Journal contacted Police Superintendent Stephen Dean for information on Alexis’ disappearance.

He said he was unaware of the incident and was only notified through a media report.

Ms. Miller says with every passing day she grows more worried, but is hopeful.

“It’s hard. Every moment is like it’s just ticking. You don’t know what to think or how to think but in your heart of hearts you really believe in God that she’s okay but you just really want her to come home,” she said.

“When the phone rang [The Journal was calling] and I saw a number I didn’t know, in my heart I was believing that okay, I’m going to hear from her today or that it would be her calling me or the station saying, ‘okay, we found her and she’s okay.’ Every phone call is like hoping – hoping every car that passes or stops to the house that it would be her.”

Asked whether Alexis had a boyfriend, she said, “Absolutely not to my knowledge. There’s no evidence to say that a boyfriend is involved. I’m not trying to paint a perfect picture but no, not at all.”

Alexis, a 12th grader, is the third of six children.

Her mother says her young siblings are “desperately waiting to have her home.”

Asked whether she believes her daughter is still alive she said, “Absolutely, with all my heart, I do,” she said between sobs. “I believe she is still alive and she will return home.”

“I want to tell her that I really miss her and love her so much and I just want her to come home now. I really, really want her to come home.”

Administrators at C.V. Bethel have not reached out to Ms. Miller yet, but she is hoping to touch bases with officials today.

Anyone with information on Alexis is asked to call police at 919 or Crime Stoppers 328-TIPS.

Late last year, parliamentarians amended the Child Protection Act to establish a mandatory action for rescuing children.

The amendment was known as the Marco alert and was named in honour of Marco Archer, a slain inner city boy who was abducted and later killed.