Stockton Teen Missing After Allegedly Running Off With Her Wrestling Coach
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CSB13) — A Stockton teen is missing and San Joaquin County sheriff's deputies say she rode off with her high school wrestling coach.
The 16-year old girl has been missing since Wednesday. She's a student at Franklin High School in Stockton, and her family confirms she's also on the wrestling team.
The girl's family and friends say she left abruptly. She gave no warning to her friends, and her parents tell CBS13 off-camera Saturday, they received a text from her Wednesday telling them not to worry about her and that she is safe.
They haven't heard from her since.
San Joaquin County authorities are now on the hunt for 25-year old Phillip Maglaya, a volunteer wrestling coach at Franklin High in Stockton, suspected of taking a 16-year old girl student, deputies say he's romantically involved with.
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"I was so confused 'cause none of us had heard anything," said "Brisa," a friend and classmate of the missing girl.
Brisa says she was blindsided by her friend's disappearance, but says she knew something was off.
"She had come back from Hawaii and she was really stressed out about the homework, and she was being absent kind of sporadically," "Brisa" said.
Brisa last saw the girl early last week. She did not recognize Maglaya when shown a picture of him.
Brisa says she and her friends had no idea the girl was seeing Maglaya, even though she's on the wrestling team at Franklin High, where he volunteers as a coach.
CBS13 asked Stockton Unified about Maglaya's history at the school.
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A spokeswoman responded saying he "...started work with the Franklin wrestling team last year after having passed background checks."
Detectives believe Maglaya and the girl are traveling in a 1994 green Toyota extra cab truck.
The missing girl's mother tells CBS13 off-camera she is shocked to learn about the secret relationship, praying for her daughter's safe return.
A message echoed by her friend Brisa, "Just come back, we need you here and we love you and we miss you, we want you to be safe."
The license plate of the 1994 green Toyota truck is "8G91493."
If you have any information on Maglaya or the missing girl, San Joaquin County sheriff's detectives want to hear from you.
