Endangered Child Alert still active 9 years after Winchester teen’s disappearance
WINCHESTER, Tenn. (WKRN) — It's been close to a decade since anyone has reported seeing a teenage girl who seemingly vanished out of Winchester.
Eva Alejandra Lopez was just 15 years old at the time of her disappearance. According to detectives with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the last place anyone saw her was at her home in Winchester.
When the TBI first issued an Endangered Child Alert for Lopez on Sept. 22, 2015, she was labeled as a "runaway." Authorities believe she may have been with a wanted fugitive when she left her home that day.
The man — Avaro Gamez Martinez — was reportedly wanted on six counts of aggravated statutory rape. At the time, investigators said he was 25 years old.
It remains unclear where Lopez and Martinez may have been heading, but some reports indicate they could have traveled to Mexico, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
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Little other information is available in the case, with details like Lopez's clothing unknown.
Although Lopez would now be 24 years old, the TBI's alert is still active. As of Sept. 2024, there were still nine active alerts for teens and children missing across the state. Those alerts include both AMBER Alerts and Endangered Child or Endangered Young Adult Alerts.
Some of those cases include that of 4-month-old Zaylee Grace Fryer , who disappeared from Memphis in 2011, and 15-year-old Sebastian Rogers , who was reported missing from his home in Hendersonville nearly seven months ago.
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According to the TBI, these investigations stay open until the children's whereabouts are discovered. Officials said Lopez, who is of Hispanic descent, is about 5-feet 4-inches tall, weighs around 150 pounds and has brown hair.
Anyone who has any information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the TBI at . To view the TBI's list of active alerts,.
