Police search for missing SW Side mom, daughters

May 6, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Chicago police have issued an alert for a Southwest Side mother and her two daughters after the mother reportedly threatened suicide.

Police say Maria Miranda called her boyfriend and threatened to kill herself and her daughters, and then they disappeared

Police say they are taking Maria Miranda's threats very seriously. Detectives say the 41-year-old mother has severe mental health issues.

Police believe Miranda walked away from her home, possibly taking her children on a bus with her.

Since making another suicidal phone call Saturday, Miranda's cell phone is no longer working.

Maria Miranda lives in a first-floor apartment on the Southwest Side. Neighbors say she spent her time taking care of her two daughters, Victoria, 19, who is mentally challenged, and Mariana, 1. Neighbor Alicia Mata says Miranda rarely left the building.

"Always when I come in, she is at home with the baby and other girl," said Mata.

On May 1st, Miranda did leave with her girls, and they have not been seen since.

"She made a phone call to her boyfriend and said that she was going to end it all, and she was tired, and she was going to kill herself and her girls," said Det. Pamela Childs of the Chicago Police Department.

Childs says that phone call came the first day Miranda went missing. Police say the mother of two made a similar threatening phone call to her boyfriend Saturday, and that is when he filed a missing persons report.

"The only real contact that we have is her boyfriend; he explains that she is kind of anti-sociable in the neighborhood, she doesn't have a lot of friends, doesn't really know a lot of people in the area, and he came home from work one day and she was gone," said Childs.

Neighbors say the boyfriend has gone door to door asking for help.

"He told me he is scared - he don't know where she went - he is petrified. He don't know what happened," said neighbor Bill Howe.

Police say Miranda left, taking very few items with her.

"She does not drive; she has no money; she does have a backpack with a few baby items in it," said Childs.

In addition, Miranda does not have debit or credit cards. However, police say she is carrying her passport and her 19-year-old daughter's passport.

Police are hoping to get more information from her cell phone records. Detectives believe at this point Miranda is out of battery power.

Police are extremely concerned about the wellbeing of the children.

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local, sarah schulte

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