Sheriff's Office searching for NSB teen girl

Courtesy photo.

Tara Jean Yunker, 16, of 2233 Juanita Drive, New Smyrna Beach, is missing and known to have abused prescription pills and alcohol, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is seeking the public's help in locating a 16-year-old girl who has been missing since Friday. Tara Jean Yunker is not believed to be endangered, but is known to have abused prescription pills and alcohol, an agency spokesman said.

Yunker was discovered missing 6 p.m. Friday when a note left by her at her home at 2233 Juanita Drive, New Smyrna Beach indicated that she had run away.

"In the note Yunker said that she was going to leave on a bus, but would return soon," Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said. "Yunker's mother reported her daughter as missing to the Sheriff's Office that night. The mother told deputies that Yunker has a chronic addiction to prescription narcotics and as a result had previously been in a rehabilitation program."

Yunker is a white female with blue eyes and blonde hair. She is 5 feet 4 and 110 pounds.

The mother believes Yunker could be in Brevard County.

Anyone with information about Yunker's whereabouts is asked to call Sheriff's Investigator Beth Fortin at (386) 423-3301.