UPDATE: 3/02/22 7:30 p.m. 13-year-old Bailey Frederick who had been missing since Sunday has been found safe, police say.
NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) — The parents of a missing New Iberia girl are pleading for the community’s help to bring her home.
The 13-year-old was picked up by an unknown car in front of her house Sunday.
Just yesterday (Tuesday), witnesses reported seeing her escorted on Robertson Street. It is believed she could be being held against her will and that she is in imminent danger.
Bailey Frederick’s mother and father have been walking the streets, making calls, and they are now hanging up posters for their missing daughter. It’s all they can do, and they are asking for community help.
“What would you do in our situation?” Frederick’s father, Bryson King asked. “Have a heart. Report it. Call in. At least reach out.”
“Bailey is a very, very sweet child,” her mother, Danielle King said. “She’s very respectful, very nice, very jolly goofy.”
Her parents said they recently took her phone away because she has communicated with adult men over the phone in the past. They’ve also been extra careful to protect Bailey after their only other daughter died as a toddler.
“I looked at life totally different,” her mother said.
When Bailey ran away, she unplugged the family security camera, but not before it caught footage of a car roaming through the neighborhood.
Her parents feared the worst after not hearing a word for days, but they were given hope when several witnesses stated they saw Bailey exiting a gray Chrysler or Charger on Robinson Street Tuesday. Witnesses said Bailey appeared scared and was in the area with an older woman.
“I had a thousand pounds of relief off my shoulders to know that she’s still here,” Bailey’s mother said.
Both parents quickly tried to get to the scene but arrived too late to find their teenage girl. Hours later, Louisiana State Police (LSP) listed Bailey as a Level II Endangered/Missing Child.
“She may have left under different circumstances than she is currently in now, and that’s what we’re worried about for her sake,” Thomas Gossen with LSP said.
Authorities sent their message statewide because it’s possible Bailey could have been moved, but if she is still in New Iberia, her parents want everyone in the city to know her face.
“We just kind of wish she could come back home, a phone call, anything,” Bailey’s father said. “It would be very appreciated just to know that she’s safe and she’s not being hurt or abused by anybody.”
Anyone who sees Bailey Frederick or has any information as to where she is should immediately contact the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office or call 911.
