Endeavour Hills teenager Natalie Taranto has been missing since Friday, 3 March, and police have urged anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact them.By Rebecca Fraser
THE parents of a missing Endeavour Hills teenager have urged their daughter to contact home.
Natalie Taranto, 14, disappeared from her John Hunter Drive home about 5.20pm on Friday, 3 March after telling her family she was going to catch the bus.
She has not been heard from since.
Her father, Vince Taranto of Carrum Downs, said his daughter did not tell her family where she was travelling to and he did not know whether she left in the company of others or if she had taken a bag of belongings with her.
Mr Taranto said he knew Natalie had about $50 on her at the time of her disappearance but she did not have a mobile phone or access to any bank accounts.
Mr Taranto said this was not the first time his daughter had gone missing, but she was usually found within a few days.
He said he separated from Natalie’s mother 12 years ago but still regularly saw her.
Mr Taranto said he saw Natalie a day before her disappearance when he came to her home and dropped her at the Gleneagles Campus of Eumemmerring Secondary College, where she is a student.
He said he had been looking everywhere for his daughter and had also made and distributed posters in the hope of finding her.
Natalie’s mother, Angeline Diongco, said the teenager’s six-year-old half sister was very upset by her disappearance.
“We still have not heard anything,” Ms Diongco said.
“We just want to know if she is alright, and we would like her or her friends to please contact Endeavour Hills police.
And she had a message for her daughter. “Please call home and we can come and pick you up and bring you home,” she said.
Ms Diongco said she had not had any arguments with Natalie before she left home and had no idea that she was not going to come back.
“She has left before but normally she comes back,” she said.
Sergeant John Blackburn of Endeavour Hills police said members had been told Natalie often frequented Dandenong Plaza and Lysterfield Lake Park.
He said they did not know if Natalie had been in contact with any of her friends or associates since she went missing.
Sgt Blackburn urged anyone with information to come forward and contact police.
“It appears that she is only missing because she wants to be missing,” he said.
“The family, as I understand it, are very devastated.
“Police really hope she is found safe and well.”
Natalie is of European and Asian descent, has long dark curly hair and is described as about 157 centimetres (five feet, two inches) tall and weighing about 55 kilograms.
She was wearing a black blouse, light blue shorts and white slip-on shoes when last seen.
Anyone who has seen Natalie or knows of her whereabouts is urged to contact Sgt Blackburn from Endeavour Hills police on 9709 7666 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
