Missing Ben Lomond teen found after 9 days

Sierra Rose Mercer, 15, is home safe and sound after going missing for nine days.
After a tireless search, Damon Mercer found his daughter in the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco on Saturday, June 5.
The Ben Lomond teenager had been missing since May 26.
“I was standing inside McDonald’s trying to refuel before searching the parks for her,” Mercer said. “I walked over to the window to look at the transient youth, and all of a sudden, she walked by.”
Mercer said the girl was happy but filthy after spending more than a week living on the streets.
“I don’t know what she was thinking. Not communicating was the dumbest thing she could’ve done,” he said. “I think she was trying to flap her wings a little bit.”
It was the first time he had seen his daughter since he dropped her off at school on the morning of May 26.
The day Sierra disappeared, she called him and said she was going to take a bus to Santa Cruz with friends, but Mercer said he told her to come home.
“She told me she would get on the next bus home, and that was the last time I talked to her,” Mercer said.
Mercer went to downtown Santa Cruz every night and stayed until the early morning for eight days, searching homeless encampments, tunnels and railroad tracks in the area. He also filed reports with the Santa Cruz Police Department and the county sheriff’s office.
Some teens told Mercer they’d seen Sierra near the bus station in Santa Cruz on May 29, and she had said she might head to Berkeley, San Francisco or Angels Camp, her father said.
Heading to Berkeley and San Francisco to look for his daughter, Mercer posted fliers all over the area.
“I guess one of Sierra’s friends saw a flier and told her she better call her dad,” Mercer said.
Sierra moved to Ben Lomond from her mother’s home in Rocklin, northeast of Sacramento, about six months ago and enrolled at San Lorenzo Valley High School, Mercer said.
Mercer said his daughter is back in school this week.
“I’d like to give a special thanks to the people in the streets of Santa Cruz,” he said, choking back tears. “Everyone was so caring, helpful and heartfelt. I’m still emotional about all the support I got.”
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