A Monterey Park teen set off on her bike to visit a relative. She never arrived

Police are searching for a 15-year-old Monterey Park girl who disappeared Tuesday after leaving home on her bicycle.

Alison Jillian Chao left her residence in the 200 block of North Ynez Avenue in Monterey Park around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to visit a relative's house in the nearby city of San Gabriel, but never arrived, according to the Monterey Park Police Department. A search was initiated within hours, police said.

Signs affixed to street lights and utility poles in her neighborhood and in nearby Alhambra say Alison was wearing a blue T-shirt and black shorts and carrying a black backpack when she departed on a blue mountain bike. The posters include an image of Alison peddling away from home with her hair in a ponytail.

Police described the teen as Asian with black hair and brown eyes. She is about 5 feet 2 and weighs around 96 pounds.

According to a website dedicated to finding her, the last confirmed sighting of Alison was on Main Street in Alhambra soon after she left home Tuesday.

"The more time that goes on, the scarier it gets," the teen's mother, Annie Chao, told KTLA on Friday. "I haven't slept in days, and it's just every parent's worst nightmare."

Those with information should call the Monterey Park Police Department at 626-573-1311.

Times staff writer Karen Kaplan contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .