Tavia Danaj Bentley's mom is appealing to the public for help in locating her missing 12-year-old daughter.
"I love her, and her family loves her, and we want her to come home safely," Katrina Bentley told The Huffington Post.
According to Bentley, her daughter has been missing from Detroit, Mich., since Feb. 24. Her disappearance, however, was preceded by an alleged kidnapping during which Tavia Danaj Bentley was taken by her non-custodial father, Sebastian Albert Campbell, according to CBS Detroit. Troy Patch also reported on the missing girl in February.
"My daughter was taken by her father, and they were later located," Bentley said.
The court ordered Tavia Bentley placed in temporary foster care in Oakland County for her own safety, Bentley said. On Feb. 18, authorities transferred the girl to a facility in Detroit. She disappeared from that facility on Feb. 25.
"I was contacted by the foster care home representative at 11 that morning and told she had been missing since about 4 a.m.," Katrina Bentley said.
Authorities have been unable to determine the girl's whereabouts since she disappeared from foster care. A call to the Detroit police seeking comment was not returned on Monday.
Bentley said she believes Campbell has also since disappeared.
Campbell has not been named a suspect or person of interest in his daughter's disappearance. Her case remains categorized an endangered runaway. Nevertheless, Bentley said she believes her daughter is with Campbell or that Campbell may know where she is.
Bentley said she has had an extremely difficult time getting media coverage for her daughter.
"Because she elected to leave the foster care home on her own -- they couldn't find any forced entry or anything like -- they termed her as a runaway, and the media is not very interested in following up on runaway cases," Bentley said. "I am having a very hard time getting anyone to listen."
Tavia Bentley is described as an African-American female who is 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 105 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. Her ears are pierced and she has a birthmark on her right wrist.
"If by chance she is online and runs across it, I want her to know I love her dearly and I forgive her for everything that happened ... despite anything that has been told to her by those she is around," Bentley said.
Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to contact the Detroit Police Department at 313-596-5986 or the Black and Missing Foundation.
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