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NORTH OGDEN — Dawn Miera knows her 16-year-old daughter isn't perfect.
Alexis Rasmussen has run away in the past and has made up stories to stay out past her curfew. But she has never completely vanished.
Now, both Miera and police want to know what happened to Alexis, who hasn't been seen since Sept. 10.
"My personal opinion is she did not run away," Miera said.
In the past, Alexis ran away to be with friends and never traveled very far. During those instances, she took some clothes and other items with her and even called her mother later to tell her where she had gone.
"This time she didn't take anything with her," she said.
North Ogden police detective Paul Rhoades said Wednesday that the case had not risen yet to the level of a criminal investigation.
"We have no information to believe that she's run into foul play," he said. "We're still running on the assumption she's out there and someone knows where she's at. ... We have nothing to lead us to believe that anything criminal has happened to her."
Nevertheless, Rhoades admitted it is unusual for a 16- year-old girl to completely "fall off the grid" for a month.
Adding to the mystery is the fact that the couple last seen with Alexis was arrested on unrelated charges, and last week Miera said police searched their home.
Rhoades, however, said that the Millerberg arrests were unrelated from their case and were made by other agencies. Still, because they were the last known people to have seen Alexis, he said investigators are keeping them on their radar.
On Sept. 10, Alexis went to the house of Eric and Dea Millerberg, 3228 N. 900 East, to baby-sit their 5-year-old and 9-month-old daughters, Miera said. She had tended the children for them in the past.
About 10:20 p.m., Dea Millerberg returned home and Alexis went with her to Walgreens in Layton to pick up a prescription, Miera said. Store surveillance video confirms the two were at the store, she said.
But when they were done picking up the medication, Millerberg left again to resume her night out with Eric, something that her mother said sounded very odd to her.
Miera said she texted "Lexi" between 10 and 15 times that night. Her last text was about 11:30 p.m. By that time, Miera said she was irritated that the Millerbergs were still out. She told Alexis that she was not mad at her but to make sure she got paid and to just spend the night at their house.
Alexis also exchanged texts with a boy about 12:30 a.m., her mother said. She said she did not know the content of those texts and doesn't believe the story the boys are telling.
Alexis was at the boy's house the night before, Miera said. She did not know if her daughter and the boy and others had planned to meet up after she was done babysitting. The boys told Miera they never saw Alexis that night.
The next day, Miera said her daughter did not return any texts and all the calls her mother made went straight to voice mail. When Miera went to the Millerberg house, she said she did not get any straight answers.
"He's talking a mile a minute, talking about all these random things. He's all over the place," she said. "She didn't know what time (Alexis) left. They weren't even coherent. Their stories didn't even make sense to me."
Last week, Eric Millerberg was arrested for investigation of violating his parole for alleged drug use, and Dea Millerberg was arrested a couple of days later and charged with two counts of falsely obtaining a prescription, a third-degree felony.
Miera said over the weekend, police conducted a search of the Millerbergs' house, but she did not know if it was in relation to their own drug cases or was part of the investigation into her missing daughter.
Rhoades said there have been several searches conducted of the Millerberg home, but the detective said he couldn't comment on those searches or whether they were conducted for the drug investigation or the missing person investigation.
An officer who talked to Eric Millerberg the afternoon Alexis was reported missing said that according to the family, Alexis left the house between 11 p.m. and midnight on Sept. 10 to see a friend.
As for the text from the boy, Rhoades said officers have talked to him. The boy claimed they only texted that night. But again, Rhoades said he was one of many people being looked at.
"Right now, the police are just exploring every avenue," Miera said. "We just don't know what happened to her."
Miera said she has had fears that her daughter accidentally overdosed and those with her were too scared to report it or she actually did go out with a group of boys that night and something happened to her. Or it could have been something that didn't include either of those groups, she said.
But Miera said she still wants to hold on to hope that her daughter is alright.
Rhoades said there have been several reported sightings of Alexis in Davis and Weber counties though none of them have been confirmed.
"I just hope when people say they're seeing her out there, I hope it's her," Miera said. "She loves me and she loves her brother and her sister. For her not to call for a month ... I just want her to know I love her."
Rhoades said it will likely be the public that will help solve the case.
"Someone knows where she's at," he said. "We want the public to continue looking for her."
Email:preavy@ksl.com
