Mother searching for missing daughter in Aliquippa
ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (KDKA) — A mother says she hasn't seen or heard from her daughter in more than three weeks.
"I feel like I can't protect my child, and it's the worst feeling in the world," said Ronda Duke. "I just want her home. I just want to know she's safe."
It's been nearly a month since Duke has seen or talked to her 24-year-old daughter, Ri'Kiah Griffie.
"I'm calling her phone and not getting no response," Duke said. "And a few days after that, it started going straight to voicemail. That's when I really started to get worried."
On Oct. 7, Duke says she dropped her daughter off at her boyfriend's Town Towers apartment on Franklin Avenue in Aliquippa. Later that night, the two FaceTimed when Griffie was cooking dinner.
That's the last time they talked.
"It's just not like her," Duke said. "She always calls me."
On Oct. 21, Duke filed a missing person report with the Aliquippa Police Department. She said her daughter suffers from drug addiction, and days before she went missing she was released from the Beaver County Jail.
She describes the relationship her daughter has with her boyfriend as rocky. She claims he told her he kicked her daughter out about two weeks ago.
"He said that she was acting crazy because she was on drugs," Duke said. "So he put her out with her belongings."
KDKA-TV's Jennifer Borrasso: "What have police told you?"
Duke: "They have told me absolutely nothing. I have tried to contact them many times."
Aliquippa Police Chief John Lane confirmed the department is investigating and that Griffie is in a national database for missing persons. But Duke feels the police are not doing enough.
"I just think she got herself in a bad situation because theese streets are no joke," Duke said. "And when you go into these streets, bad things do happen to good people."
Duke said her daughter has tattoos on her right arm. She is also 5-foot-4.
