Wash. Hair Salon Owner Disappeared Last Month — and Police Believe She's Been Kidnapped
Police say they are "extremely concerned" for 54-year-old Reyna Hernandez
Police in Washington say they are “extremely concerned” about a local hairdresser who went missing last week.
Reyna Hernandez, 54, was last heard from on Monday, Feb. 26, when she went to run errands near her Renton, Wash. home. Friends and family say they haven’t seen her since.
“We are extremely concerned for Reyna’s well-being at this time,” Renton Police Department public information officer Meeghan Black told reporters on Tuesday, according to local KIRO 7.
The outlet reported that Hernandez’s disappearance immediately worried those who knew her, because she was known as a reliable person who opened up her Renton hair salon every morning. The business has been closed down for more than a week following her disappearance.
“Detectives have been following multiple, multiple leads,” Black told reporters. “They’ve served many search warrants and uncovered evidence that leads us to believe she was taken against her will. We do expect foul play in this case.”
In a news release Wednesday, police said Hernandez’s friends first reported her missing last week. “Hernandez had not returned home, answered her phone, or shown up for work,” the department said.
“Evidence recovered in the search warrants indicates that Ms. Hernandez was taken against her will, and we do not believe her car is currently in the area,” Renton police said in its news release. “We are in contact with family and friends, and they have still not heard from Reyna, which is highly unusual.”
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German Sahagun, who has known Hernandez for a decade through his family’s restaurant next door to her hair salon, told KOMO News that she was regularly “very outspoken, loud, friendly.” But to Sahagun, Hernandez' demeanor seemed unusual the last time he saw her — two days before she went missing.
“She was kind of quiet that day, which I thought was kind of odd,” he said. “Usually, she would say my nickname, she would call me Roman as a nickname. That day, she didn't really respond to me. I said hello to her first, which she usually says hi to me first. I noticed [it] was kind of odd.”
Police said Wednesday that Hernandez’s disappearance remains an active investigation.
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