Loved ones are desperately searching for a young mother who disappeared in 2022, leaving her infant daughter behind.
Ruthey Smith, 21, was last seen on March 2, 2022, near Figueroa and 70th streets in South Los Angeles, authorities said. She was 19 at the time of her disappearance.
Smith’s family acknowledges she had been working as a prostitute in order to support her daughter, Ocean, who was 1-year-old at the time of her disappearance.
Smith’s mother, Kathryn Renesto, and her younger brother had painstakingly searched the area where she disappeared, looking for leads and evidence.
They were able to track down the last known video of Smith, seen with a group of people in a neighborhood that was well-known for sex work at all hours of the day, NewsNation reports.
Authorities believe Smith is a victim of human trafficking. Her family said she would never voluntarily leave her daughter behind.
“She would never abandon my granddaughter, her child,” Renesto said. “She would never miss birthdays or holidays with family.”
Smith was born in San Pedro and was raised in Long Beach. Her family told the Long Beach Post that she became a teen mother and turned to sex work to make ends meet.
”She didn’t want to do that,” Renesto said. “And she tried and tried but it’s easier said than done. But it wasn’t enough and I didn’t do enough.”
Days before she vanished, Smith reportedly told her parents she had a feeling she would be abducted, but she went to work anyway.
Smith’s aunt, Amanda Lourenco, said the young mother had been abducted from the streets before.
“Well, she was taken before by pimps,” Lourenco said. “So my sister had to go all the way to Vegas and get her one time before. But that time, she was able to use a phone and that’s how we knew where she was.”
However, when Smith disappeared in 2022, there had been no contact since.
At one point, Lourenco found an image of a woman who looked like Smith in an advertisement for a gentleman’s club in Nevada. Officers investigated, but Smith was nowhere to be found.
“Somebody here in the United States has information about Ruthey Smith and who she was last seen with,” said Moses Castillo, a retired Los Angeles police detective.
Castillo spoke at a press conference held March 2 at the San Pedro United Methodist Church while surrounded by Smith’s family.
“My daughter’s been missing for two years but I won’t stop and I’ll continue to say her name,” Renesto said tearfully. “We will never give up until we find you. I need somebody to say something. It’s the worst in the world, to not know if your child is dead or alive. If you see something, say something.”
The young mother is described as a Black woman with brown hair and brown eyes. She stands 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs around 125 pounds.
She has a pierced nose and belly button. She has several tattoos with the names “Ezra” and “Lamarion” tattooed near her ears and the name “Ocean” tattooed on her chest along with a wave.
She was last seen wearing a light-colored jacket, black sandals and a black purse. She also goes by the names “Winter” or “Grayson,” her family said.
“She is a kind and loving soul,” said Ingrid Klungreseter, Smith’s grandmother. “We need the community’s help to bring her home safely. Trafficking is a horrific crime. If anyone knows anything, I’m begging you to do what’s morally right and speak up with any information you may have. People who are trafficked deserve for [information about their disappearance] to be national.”
Smith’s family has provided DNA to be placed into a federal database called NamUS, which uses genetic information to help coroners identify unknown bodies.
Moses confirmed that Smith’s DNA has not been located through the database yet, which has given her family a sense of hope that she may be alive and able to come home.
The Long Beach Police Department is actively investigating Smith’s disappearance as a human trafficking case and is asking for the community’s help.
Smith’s family is also hoping the Federal Bureau of Investigation and any other law enforcement agencies can join in the search efforts soon.
“I need my child,” Renesto said. “She was involved in a horrific crime. I need the world to help me find her. These victims deserve to be found. Ruthey, if you’re watching, know your mother will never give up, your brother will never give up, we will never give up.”
Anyone who may know of Smith’s whereabouts or has information on the case is asked to call Long Beach Police’s Missing Person’s Unit at 562-570-7246 or police dispatch at 562-435-6711.
Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.