(Chanel McNeil, 17, of Wilmington. Photo: Wilmington Police Department.)
Sunday night, 9:10 PM. The 2900 block of North Monroe Street in Wilmington. That is the last time anybody saw Chanel McNeil.
She is seventeen years old.
Read that next part slowly, Delaware, because this is now the second time this week we’re writing it: a teenage girl from this state is missing, police have issued a Gold Alert, and a family is sitting by a phone that isn’t ringing. On Friday, Adriana Pablo disappeared in Laurel. On Sunday night, Chanel McNeil disappeared in Wilmington. Two daughters. Two families. One small state that should be able to find its own kids.
Here is what to look for. Chanel is 5 feet 2 inches tall, about 125 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. She was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, pink pants, and black Crocs.
The pink pants. Remember the pink pants. Gray hoodies disappear into a crowd; pink pants don’t. If you were anywhere near North Monroe Street on Sunday night — driving, walking, sitting on your porch — and you saw a teenage girl in pink pants, you saw something that matters, whether it felt like it at the time or not.
Wilmington Police issued the Gold Alert on Monday morning and are asking the public for help. They have not released a direction of travel or a known destination, which means the search is wide open — and wide-open searches are the kind the public actually solves. Cameras on North Monroe and the blocks around it: check Sunday night, after 9 PM. A girl in a gray hoodie and pink pants crossing your frame is the whole ballgame. And if your kids know Chanel — her friends, her classmates, anybody — ask them what they’ve heard. Teenagers tell each other things they would never tell a detective.
If you have seen Chanel, or you know anything about where she went Sunday night, call the Wilmington Police Department at 302-654-5151. If you’d rather stay anonymous, Delaware Crime Stoppers takes tips at 1-800-TIP-3333.
Chanel — same words we said to Adriana, and we mean them exactly the same: you are not in trouble. Nobody’s coming to yell at you. Your people just need to know you’re alive. Call home. Text a friend. Say your name somewhere safe. That’s it.
Two Gold Alerts for two Delaware teenagers in four days. The police can’t be everywhere, but Delaware is only 96 miles long — we can. Look at her face. Learn the pink pants. And let’s bring both of these girls home.
Team Murphy Media has reached out to the Wilmington Police Department about Chanel’s case and will update this story the moment anything changes.
Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.
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