Yareli Marlem Barajas was 12 when she was last seen on August 11, 2009, in the area of 4500 W. Indian School Road in Phoenix. She was born December 9, 1996, had black hair, brown eyes, pierced ears and distinguishing scars on her right hand. Early investigative work treated this as a family abduction rather than a runaway case.

Authorities focused on Yareli’s non-custodial aunt and uncle, Maria Barajas and Jonathan Javier Hernandez-Guerrero. Hernandez-Guerrero was 26 at the time and described as having black hair and brown eyes. A felony kidnapping warrant for Jonathan Hernandez-Guerrero was issued on June 18, 2018. Investigators have suggested Yareli may have been taken to Mexico or Canada and possibly traveled with the couple and their two children.

Her information was circulated by law enforcement and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, including age-progressed images. The case was later removed from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System; no further details about that action were provided. Does anyone with knowledge of Yareli, her family, or movements around August 2009 have information to share?