Emma Grace Galindo, 17, was last seen in late August 2025 leaving her job at the Food Lion on South New Hope Road in Gastonia, North Carolina. She’s described as about 5 feet 3 inches, with red hair and green eyes, wearing her black polo work shirt and black pants when she walked toward the road and vanished. Emma had been in foster care and had moved to Gastonia from Greensboro about three months before she disappeared.

Investigators noted Emma’s history of running away but expressed particular concern that she may have been in the company of people she met on a teenage dating app, and they checked her online contacts while following leads. Tips later placed her possibly in Pinellas County, Florida, prompting a wider search. No definitive update on her whereabouts has been reported.

If anyone saw Emma that day, remembers seeing a young woman matching her description, or has information about contacts she was meeting, please share what you know with the Gastonia Police Department.