Girl Missing After Rift With Mother Is Sought

Investigators are seeking a missing 17-year-old girl, believed to be with her stepfather, who has also disappeared, Anaheim police said Thursday.

Anita Enciso was last seen by a neighbor Feb. 20 in Anaheim after an argument between the girl and her mother, Anna Flores, over school attendance, Police Sgt. Joe Vargas said.

The girl called home two days later, asking for her uncle’s telephone number.

But Vargas said the teenager has not contacted the uncle and that investigators believe Enciso and her stepfather, Luis Palamino, 29, remain in Orange County.

“The mother said the girl seemed upset when she called,” Vargas said. “She was crying.” Enciso’s mother believes the girl is with Palamino, Vargas said.

On the day she disappeared, Enciso apparently got a ride home from a co-worker at a Denny’s where she works.

After the argument with her mother, a neighbor saw Enciso leave the house about 6 p.m.

When her daughter had not returned by 3 a.m., Flores reported her missing.

Vargas said the disappearance is being investigated as a suspicious-circumstances case.

“The fact that she’s gone and he’s gone, we need to investigate if there’s an inappropriate relation,” he said

Palamino, who sometimes goes by the name Daniel Pena, is 5 feet 6 and weighs about 150 pounds. He has a mustache.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Vince Delgado at (714) 765-1583.