Petaluma Teen Disappears During New Year's Trip In Tahoe
PETALUMA (CBS SF) - A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the location of a Petaluma woman last seen at a Nevada Casino resort on New Years day.
Nineteen-year-old Alyssa Byrne went up to South Lake Tahoe with friends to attend the Snowglobe Music Festival, authorities said.
She last seen between 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. on Jan. 1 at a bar inside the Horizon Casino Resort where she was staying, said Sgt. Pat Brooks, spokesman for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Nevada.
Kim Byrne said she last heard from her daughter, who graduated from Case Grande High School in Petaluma in 2011, on New Year's Eve afternoon.
"She was due back at work Tuesday" at the Cattlemen's restaurant in Petaluma, Byrne said. "She was going to be driving back with three friends."
Byrne said her husband Kevin has been searching in the South Lake Tahoe and Stateline, Nev., area "morning and night," and calls her hourly.
"They're searching empty lots and the hotel area," Byrne said.
Alyssa Byrne was staying with friends at the Horizon Casino Resort in Stateline, Nev. while they were attending the SnowGlobe Music Festival, Douglas County sheriff's Sgt. Pat Brooks said.
The three-day music event that typically draws an estimated 40,000 people was held at the Lake Tahoe Community College campus Dec. 29-31.
Her friends last saw her in the hotel bar between 12:30 and 1 a.m. on New Year's Day, Brooks said.
At a news conference held Thursday afternoon in Stateline, Brooks said after the festival ended, Alyssa Byrne had taken a shuttle bus by herself back to the hotel, while her friends went to a New Year's street celebration in the downtown area.
When the friends returned to the hotel, they saw her in the lobby, spoke with her briefly and headed to bed while she remained in the lobby, Brooks said.
The sheriff's office said the last activity on her cellphone was at 12:03 a.m. on New Year's Day before her phone went inactive.
Authorities are working to determine if she made a phone call or sent a text message, Brooks said.
Authorities are also trying to confirm the authenticity of two cryptic tweets posted on the teen's Twitter page. One read, "Just lost all my trust in the person I trust most." Another read, "After tonight, you'll never be a part of my life. You're nothing to me."
A reward of up to $1,000 has been offered for information leading to her location, Brooks said.
Byrne is 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 125 pounds and has black hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black snow boots and black yoga-type pants, Brooks said.
Kim Byrne said she is living "minute by minute."
"It takes your breath away. It doesn't feel real. She was good about staying in touch. I speak to her every day. This was her first big trip on her own. It's not like her at all," Byrne said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Douglas County Secret Witness phone line at (775) 782-7463, or the sheriff's office investigation division at (775) 782-9905.
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