National TV Show Prompts 144 Calls on Missing Girl

A nationwide telecast of “Unsolved Mysteries,” which included a segment on the disappearance of Leticia Hernandez, prompted calls from all over the country to the program’s phone bank in Culver City, police said.

The hourlong program aired locally at 8 p.m. Wednesday, but it wasn’t until near the end of the show that Leticia and several other missing children were mentioned.

Bill George, Oceanside Police Department spokesman, said 144 calls concerning Leticia were made to the program’s toll-free number.

“We will be sifting through the information to see what we have,” said Oceanside Sgt. Bill Krunglevich.

A detective and an FBI agent working on Leticia’s case were on hand at the phone bank, George said. They returned to San Diego about 1 p.m. Thursday, he said.

George said the investigators “got a lot of good information.” They will “prioritize the information and then re-interview the callers,” he said.

Leticia, 7, disappeared from her family’s Bush Street apartment Dec. 16. Oceanside police officers and FBI agents have searched the county and fanned out to other states in which Leticia has been sighted in their quest to find the little girl. The last confirmed sighting was in a Mobile, Ala., grocery store Jan. 19.

Because the television program was taped about two weeks ago, it did not mention the latest sighting. But the phone calls have encouraged the officers. “Our hopes are up again, “ George said. “We feel we’ll get her yet.”