Reward increases to $50K for safe return of missing 12-year-old from Gainesville

Authorities said Gomez-Perez was last seen at her home on Westside Drive on May 29.

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Editor’s note: The video above is from an earlier version story on Maria Gomez-Perez.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office is increasing the reward for the safe return of Maria Gomez-Perez, a missing 12-year-old girl from Gainesville. 

In a release on Wednesday, deputies announced the $50,000 reward.

Authorities said Gomez-Perez was last seen at her home on Westside Drive on May 29 and was reported missing the next day. She is described as standing 5-foot 3-inches tall and weighing between 100 and 110 pounds. She has brown eyes and long black hair and is thought to have been wearing a bright blue shirt when she was last seen. 

HCSO and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are continuing to search for Gomez-Perez and are seeking any information regarding her whereabouts.

“Our investigators and investigative partners are following every lead they get, but so far, none of those leads have led us to Maria. The concerned citizens providing this reward want what we want – for Maria to return home safe,” Sherriff Couch previously said. 

Her father spoke to 11Alive in Spanish at his home last week, saying he just wanted his daughter to come back home. 

“Por favor, vuelve a casa. Te estamos esperando. Yo no puedo vivir sin ti lastimosamente,” Andres said.

Begging for his daughter to come home, he was overwhelmed with emotion. In his message to his daughter he said he can’t live without her.

Anyone with information regarding Gomez-Perez’s disappearance should contact HCSO’s Special Investigations Unit at 770-503-3232 or intelrequest@hallcounty.org. Tips can also be phoned into 911 or Hall County Dispatch at 770-536-8812.

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