Fear Remains in Wake of Girl’s Disappearance

In Leticia Hernandez’s Oceanside neighborhood some parents have started to walk with their children rather than let them out by themselves. At a nearby community center, a buddy system has started.

“Just about everybody is concerned,” said Alondra Foreman, a 25-year resident. “Most of the parents are keeping the children in. The ones that I’ve seen (outside) have been with their parents.” Foreman’s own two children play within a fenced-in yard.

In the community center at Balderama Park, a short walk from the Hernandez home, staff members have noticed more children dropping in and more of them accompanied by their parents.

“We’ve had about 15 or 20 more children since then,” said Judy Hunt, recreation leader at the center, which runs a daily “drop-in” program for children 6 through 17. The kids learn arts and crafts, run relay races and learn cooking, calligraphy and karate, among other things. Seven-year-old Leticia went to the center regularly.

“The children are scared to be out alone,” Hunt said. “We’ve had meetings with them to talk about what’s happened. They’ve asked, ‘What should I do if someone tries to grab me? How can I prevent this?’ ”

A lot of the children already know what to do, Hunt said. “They say, ‘You should scream if someone tries to grab you,’ and ‘You should walk together.’ ”

Since Monday they have been walking each other home from the center, and Hunt is hoping that the Oceanside Police Department will send a representative to teach the children about safety.

In San Diego, news of Leticia’s disappearance has prompted calls to the International Missing Children Foundation, said Howard Bailey, director of finance for the organization. He has been answering the phones since Monday and said a large number of the calls were from people who think they have seen Leticia. But about half of the calls were from people who wanted to know if they could help, and others called to report things that seem suspicious.

“Something like this tears at the heart,” he said. “There’s more public awareness. . . . If people see a car driving around they’re more likely to call.”

Michael Kelleher, a child-finding specialist for the organization, said about 170 children were abducted in 1988 in the county, and most were parental abductions.

In Orange County, the Adam Walsh Foundation joined the search. They are working with detectives to establish a reward to distribute more flyers with the girl’s picture.

Leticia was last seen in front of her family’s Bush Street apartment about 5 p.m. Saturday. She is about 4 feet tall, weighs 60 to 80 pounds and has brown eyes and brown hair. Her long hair was pulled back in a pigtail, she is missing her two upper front teeth and has a birthmark on her upper left leg. She was wearing a red and white tank top, white shorts, white socks and white sandals.