The Merced County Sheriff's Department is searching for a missing 14-year-old girl. Sarah Wade disappeared from her family's Livingston ranch around 8:30 Wednesday night. Search and rescue teams worked all night into Thursday morning to try and find the teen. Her family says it would be extremely out of character for her to run away.
Investigators look for clues in Wade's disappearance. Her family last saw her when she went outside to turn off the horses' water.
"She took her family dog with her. The dog returned but nobody has seen her since," said Tom MacKenzie of the Merced County Sheriff's Department.
Family says Sarah is home-schooled, doesn't have a cell phone and doesn't have many friends.
"She very rarely ventures off the ranch behind us and she's unfamiliar with the surrounding area," said MacKenzie.
She does, however, have a computer and a Facebook page. Forensic investigators are digging into what she's been doing online. Meanwhile, search and rescue crews scoured the area overnight and Thursday morning. Neighbors heard helicopters overhead.
"It always makes you feel uneasy because you don't know what's happened," said Paula Cunningham, who lives behind the Wades.
A Bloodhound lost Sarah's scent on the road just outside her family's property.
"Just walked along the fence line, worked my way up, got to the road and that's where he stopped and looked at me. Basically that's where the track was done," said Doug Aue, a dog-handler.
Later in the afternoon, another search dog had similar luck. As a precaution, investigators searched a nearby home, but found nothing. They also searched the home of a registered sex offender who lives about a mile away. In this rural area, neighbors say they're doing their part to try and find Sarah.
"We're going home to look around our place and see if we see anything," said Cunningham.
Investigators are also going to the homes of Sarah's friends. If you have any information, call 209-385-7444.