Family, friends comb Pierce County streets, motels in desperate search for missing 15-year-old

UPDATE:

Lily Christopherson, the missing 15-year-old from Bonney Lake, has been found safe. More information >> http://q13fox.com/2018/06/03/lily-christopherson-has-been-found-safe/






TACOMA, Wash. -- Fliers of missing 15-year-old Lily Christopherson’s face are plastered all over the South Sound.

And Wednesday night, family and friends were patrolling motels in Tacoma. They’re looking for any information that might lead them to Lily.

Lily’s mother, Lena, reported her missing to the Bonney Lake Police Department on May 9. Her family says Lily left home after agreeing to meet with someone on social media.

And, according to the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office, evidence so far indicates she’s been forced into sex trafficking.

“It’s terrifying. It is terrifying to be in that situation, I know that,” says Noel Gomez, co-founder of Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS).

Noel is a survivor herself; she was trafficked as a teenager by the boyfriend she trusted.

“They look for your vulnerabilities and they play on those,” says Noel.

She says once a predator earns a teenager's trust, they threaten to take their life.

"They terrify you, they put the fear of God in you. I mean, this person has the power to decide if you live or you die,” says Noel.

She says she was able to escape and get help, but it took her a long time to break free.

And that is what she stresses -- that these situations are not solved overnight. And that's why she says it's so important that we continue to talk about Lily and the investigation and hold out hope.

Friends and family tell me they plan to be back out again searching for Lily on Thursday morning.