Families seeking info on two missing girls

Karen Zekan

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

They're bright, attractive and just barely teenagers.

But it's what Antonette Prieto, 14, and Liza Marie Miller, 13, are not that has their families mired in grief. For days, neither has come home.

"It just doesn't make sense," said Grace Blanco, Prieto's aunt. "I worry that something's happened to her, that she's being held against her will. This isn't like her. She hasn't been angry at any of us. And if she's staying with a friend, why isn't the friend's mother concerned?"

The only piece of mind for Prieto's family came Monday when the girl's twin received a phone call.

"The person said my sister called her and said to tell me that she was OK and she loved me," Annette Prieto recalled. "I think my sister's safe, but I see my aunt and everyone crying, and it makes me cry. The only way I can sleep is with music on. I think about all the things my sister and I have done together. I really miss her."

Few understand the bond twins share. When Annette is sick, Antonette is sick. Both are asthmatic.

"Annette is so worried -- she calls home from school practically every 20 minutes to see if we've heard anything," Blanco said.

Prieto was last seen Oct. 16 when a relative dropped her off at K.O. Knudson Middle School, where she attends eighth grade.

Attendance records reflect that Prieto never attended class that day. Her grandfather stopped by the school to pick her up about 2:15 p.m., and assumed she had arranged for other transportation when she didn't show after he waited half an hour.

Blanco later learned that school police saw the young girl waiting by the curb about 4 p.m. that same afternoon. "They brought her into the dean's office," Blanco said. "She asked to make a phone call, and then hung up and said she was going to walk home."

Prieto is 5 feet and 100 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a red sweatshirt and a gray zippered sweatshirt.

"If anyone knows where she is, I wish they would call," Blanco said. "She hangs out with kids from Valley High School, and she tells people she's 17. We're not blaming anyone, and we're not mad at her. We just want her to come home."

Any information on Prieto's whereabouts can be phoned in to Nevada Child Seekers at 458-7009.

Unlike Prieto's family, Miller's grandmother has heard nothing from young Liza since she disappeared 21 days ago.

Miller was supposed to be going to Circus Circus with some friends on Oct. 3 and never returned home, Metro Police said.

"She has been seen in the area of 370 E. Harmon Ave. and in the area of the Circus Circus hotel," said Lt. Brad Simpson of Metro's missing persons detail. Police have also heard she may be with a friend, described only as a Hispanic girl.

Miller is described as 5 feet 6 inches and 128 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. She usually wears a necklace with a gold lion pendant on it.

"There is always a concern that they could be mixed up with a criminal element," said Lt. Carlos Cordeiro. "There is always the chance that girls like this have left the area, so we have also contacted other out-of-state agencies to be on alert."

Anyone who has seen Miller is asked to call Metro's missing persons detail at 229-2907 or Detective Victor Vigna at 895-8055.