A family in Indiana will not be gathering for Thanksgiving this week because they are searching for their missing daughter.
Lateche never went more than a couple of days without speaking to her mom. Her family is worried because of her silence for more than two weeks.
Cheryl Walker told Dateline that something is wrong with her daughter. The days are flying by with no word from her. We are terrified.
Lateche. The photo was provided by Cheryl Walker.
Cheryl told Dateline that she last spoke to her daughter on the morning of November 5, 2021. Her daughter called from a stranger's phone and said she had been in a fight with her boyfriend and needed his number so she could call him. Cheryl didn't ask what happened to her daughter's cell phone.
Lateche was at the 7-Eleven on 222 Park Boulevard in San Diego, California, the night before they called. She told her mother that she was with her boyfriend at the time of the fight.
Lateche told her mom at the end of the call that she would call her back. She never did.
Cheryl said that she was always called back. She was able to use her ingenuity. She would have found a way to charge her phone. Call me from someone's phone.
Cheryl told Dateline that she tried to remind herself that Lateche was an adult and to let her live her life.
She said that Lateche had lived in Indiana her entire life. She met her boyfriend, who also did the same trade, after learning to be a tattoo artist.
Cheryl Walker provided a photo of Lateche.
The couple decided to move to California because Lateche's boyfriend grew up there. Santa Cruz is where the couple settled.
Cheryl said they didn't like the idea of Teche going so far away. California was the dream of an Indiana girl. She went.
Lateche boarded a plane to join her boyfriend in San Diego on Halloween weekend after returning home from two months away.
Cheryl said they begged her not to go. I regret not stopping her.
After Lateche called her mother on the morning of November 5, the family did everything they could to reach her. They were unable to get in touch with her boyfriend because they didn't know anyone else in San Diego.
As of Tuesday, Dateline had not heard back from Lateche's boyfriend.
Cheryl Walker provided a photo of Lateche.
The family filed a missing persons report with the San Diego Police Department. Lieutenant Adam Sharki of the San Diego Police Department told Dateline that they do not believe Lateche is at risk at the moment.
Lt. Sharki said they don't have enough information. She was last seen in a location that we are still trying to locate. We can piece it together with any tips.
Lieutenant Sharki said that the 7-Eleven on Park Boulevard in San Diego is where they believe she was last spotted, but they are still trying to confirm other possible locations. He wouldn't say if her boyfriend was with her at the time.
If the public has any information, or if you recognize her, give us a call and we will check it out. Anything is helpful.
Cheryl, Lateche's mother, and her husband, and Lateche's father, are all from Indiana. Instead of spending Thanksgiving with their families, they are traveling to the West Coast.
Cheryl told Dateline that they bought one-way tickets. We're going to flip the city upside down to look for my daughter.
She said that the community has come together to hang posters and spread the news of Lateche's disappearance because they don't know anyone in San Diego.
Cheryl said that this isn't a 20-year-old girl not calling her family because she's busy. Something is not right. This isn't like her.
Cheryl Walker provided a photo of Lateche.
Cheryl says her daughter is her mini me. She said that Lateche is street smart and takes a mechanics class in high school so she wouldn't be taken advantage of at an auto body shop.
Cheryl told Dateline that she hopes someone will come forward with information that will lead to her.
She said that she discovered new crevices in her heart as the day went on. I need to get there to find my baby.
Lateche is described as being 5'8" and 160 lbs. She has dark hair and brown eyes.
Cheryl told Dateline that her daughter's boyfriend sent her a photo on the night of November 4 that showed Lateche wearing black leggings, a black sweatshirt, black with some white tennis shoes and carrying a black and white checkered backpack. She has an arrow on her left forearm, a 7-inch blade on her right calf, and a dreamcatcher on her left shoulder.
The San Diego Police Department is asking for the public's help in finding Lateche.
