Missing Petaluma woman’s friend: She wasn’t acting like herself

Santa Rosa Press Democrat and Lake Tahoe News

A Petaluma teen who vanished more than two days ago while in South Lake Tahoe for a three-day music festival remained missing Thursday afternoon amid mounting concerns for her safety and a sense that something wasn’t quite right.

Friends who saw Alyssa Byrne, 19, shortly before she disappeared said she wasn’t acting like herself when she unexpectedly left a New Year’s Eve concert an hour before midnight and later passed on a chance to visit with old high school friends at her hotel.

Alyssa Byrne

The last friend to see her, Micah Alex of Petaluma, said it was his impression that Byrne was altered by alcohol or drugs when they embraced and greeted each other near the lobby of the Horizon casino before she went missing.

“She just seemed like something was wrong with her,” Alex said Thursday, “like she wasn’t all there, you know?”

But no one foresaw days of waiting and worrying as law enforcement got involved in the effort to find the missing Casa Grande High School grad, and details about her last interactions with friends mixed with confusion and misunderstanding.

A resident in the Christmas Valley area of the South Shore received a call from Douglas County Sheriff’s Office about noon today saying there were reports Byrne had been seen in that vicinity and to be on the lookout. However, Douglas County and El Dorado County law enforcement told Lake Tahoe News they have not made any such calls and there have been zero sightings of Byrne.

“There’s a lot of snow up at Lake Tahoe. The weather is cold,” Douglas County sheriff’s Sgt. Pat Brooks said.

Douglas County Search and Rescue has been activated to assist in the search.

The circumstances to her disappearance are unknown — meaning law enforcement doesn’t know if foul play is involved or if Byrne went somewhere willingly.

The 19-year-old had attended SnowGlobe in South Lake Tahoe on New Year’s Eve. She left the event at Lake Tahoe Community College via the bus shuttle prior to her friends.

However, her friends have told authorities they last saw her just after midnight New Year’s Day at the Horizon casino in Stateline. They all had a room at the hotel there.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in developing any suspects or leads. A reward of up to $1,000 is available for information leading to the location of Byrne.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call Secret Witness at: (775) 782.7463 or DCSO at (775) 782.9905.

Also working the case are official from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department, FBI, Douglas County Search and Rescue and air support from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.