Sacramento Teen Missing Since April at Age 25 May Have Been Sex Trafficked on the West Coast

Sacramento police are seeking the public’s help in locating a 17-year-old girl who has been missing for nearly two months and is believed to be with a man in his early 20s.

Isabel Gallego, a high school student doing independent studies, was last seen by her parents on the night of April 19 and was not in her room the next morning, according to her mother, Julie Gallego. The teenager left her phone in her room and only took a backpack.

The Sacramento Police Department said Isabel is believed to be with Kyree Jackson, 25, who has two felony warrants in Sacramento County – for illegal possession of a firearm and theft of a motor vehicle.

Although the girl once ran away from home at age 13, Julie Gallego said she believes Isabel did not intend to leave for an extended period of time. According to her mother, Isabel Gallego had ordered jewelry to take graduation photos, which arrived after she disappeared. The teen was also making plans for her 18th birthday in late June and had a boyfriend she was excited to move forward with, Julie Gallego said in an interview.

“That just wasn’t in his plan,” she said.

After Isabel Gallego left Sacramento, she was reportedly tracked to Portland, Oregon, before being located in Seattle, according to police. She was considered at risk due to her age, and Police Department spokesman Anthony Gamble said investigators believe Isabel is a victim of human trafficking.

The teenager met Jackson about two weeks before her disappearance, her mother said, and Jackson even went to the Gallegos’ residence, introduced to Isabel’s parents as a 19-year-old friend.

‘It just gave us a weird feeling’

“He came into our house and shook our hands,” Julie Gallego said. “He brought us sweets and gave us a strange feeling.”

Gallego said her daughter and her friends knew Jackson as “a pimp” and that the 17-year-old is very trusting of people, which she said was “probably her undoing.”

Gamble said detectives “have been working diligently” to find Isabel, but investigators have “exhausted all of their leads.”

Julie Gallego said she was “very grateful” for the Police Department’s work in finding the girl.

“(The detective assigned to the case) put in a lot of hours,” she said. “I’m so grateful for how much he cares about finding her.”

The California Highway Patrol has not yet issued an Amber Alert for the teen.

Isabel Gallego is around 1.70 meters tall and weighs around 55 kilos. She has brown eyes, green hair and multiple facial piercings at the time of her disappearance, but police note that her appearance may have changed. Jackson is 5-foot-9 and weighs 165 pounds.

Julie Gallego described her daughter as “very creative,” with hobbies such as painting, drawing, crocheting and mending clothes. She also expresses herself through piercings, clothes and hair colors, which, according to her mother, were different every month.

She was also active in Sacramento’s punk rock scene, often attending shows at the Colony on Stockton Boulevard with friends, her mother said.

Sacramento police ask anyone with information about the teen to contact the department at 916-808-5471.