Police search for missing 17-year-old Eastpointe girl

Eastpointe — Ciera Milton said her 17-year-old daughter Zion Foster sent her a five-word text message at 12:59 a.m. Wednesday: "I'm on my way home."

Milton said that's the last she's heard from her daughter.

"She came home from work and then left the house again," Milton said of her daughter, an Eastpointe High School student. "She was still in her Detroit Wing Company uniform."

Milton said her daughter's iPhone has been shut off. The account was part of a family plan, which enabled Milton to track its location.

"If you disable (the tracking feature), we get a notice, but they didn't turn that off — her phone was turned off," said Milton.

Eastpointe Police Lt. Robert Koenigsmann said investigators have looked into several leads — "but they've all been dead ends so far," he said. "We went to a couple addresses the family gave to us as possible places she could've gone, but they turned out to be vacant houses. We're still trying to follow up on all the leads."

Foster's father James Royster told The Detroit News that she ran away from home in March to stay with a friend, "but she kept in contact with us the whole time, and she still participated in school. She's never done this." 

Detroit police also have helped with the investigation, Koenigsmann added.

Koenigsmann said his department is juggling numerous missing person cases.

"I don't know why there are so many cases lately, but it's been really busy," he said. "We're doing all we can with the resources we have."

Zion is described as 5-foot-2 and 120 pounds. She is African-American, has shoulder-length blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen on Jan. 4 and was wearing a Detroit Wing Company uniform but no coat. 

Anyone with information about Zion's whereabouts is asked to call Eastpointe police at (586) 445-5100.

ghunter@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2134

Twitter: @GeorgeHunter_DN