Pa. Teen Who Vanished to Mexico with 45-Year-Old Married Man Is Now Missing Again
Four months after being found in Mexico with a 45-year-old married man after an international search, a Pennsylvania teen is now missing again, PEOPLE confirms.
PEOPLE confirms that Amy Yu, 16, was reported missing Monday morning after allegedly fleeing a residential program for at-risk youth.
A press release from the Pennsylvania State Police states Yu was last seen leaving Vision Quest in Franklin with two other girls: Nicole Richard, 17, and Ajah Linares, 16.
The three girls left in an unknown vehicle, and police say they pose no danger to the public.
Yu made national headlines in March when she went missing at exactly the same time Kevin Esterly, a father-of-four, did.
Police allege Esterly and Yu, one of his oldest daughter’s friends, had a “secretive” relationship.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
On March 5, Esterly allegedly signed the girl out of school and the pair traveled south towards Mexico.
After a nearly two-week search, federal agents tracked them to Playa del Carmen, where Esterly was taken into custody. He has been charged with two felonies — interfering with the custody of a child and concealment of the whereabouts of a child — and one misdemeanor count of corruption of minors.
Esterly has not yet entered a plea, and PEOPLE has been unable to reach his attorney for comment.
He is being held in Lehigh County Jail on $500,000 bail and will return to court Aug. 27 for a pretrial hearing.
Since his arrest, Esterly’s wife has filed for divorce. She spoke to Good Morning America about the case in late March, saying she tried to stop her husband from having contact with Yu.
“We thought the communication had stopped back in February,” she said, adding, “I never had any inkling it would lead up to this.”
