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News 12 Staff

MTNJMissingTeen0221_2025-02-21-17-15-25

Police looking for your help finding a missing 15 year old girl who goes to Red Bank Catholic. Peyton Cox left her home on Sunday and hasn't been seen by family since, but investigators do have an idea where she is. News 12 New Jersey's Chris Keating has the update from Red Bank. Chris. Eric, good evening. The search for this missing teenager centered on New York City and northern New Jersey. Police are telling us today that they're fully aware that Peyton Cox boarded a train on Sunday with plans to meet somebody, and the last time that she was actually spotted was in New York City. Peyton Cox is a sophomore Red Bank Catholic where she's a member of the soccer team, but she hasn't been to school all week long. Police say she was last seen by family at her home in Neptune on Sunday. Investigators have learned that later that evening she made her way to the Long Branch train station and boarded a train for New York. She would be reported missing on Monday. The Momouth County prosecutor Raymond Santiago considers the teen to be a runaway who was on her way to meet someone but never made contact with that person. I can confirm at least that her intentions were to meet up with an individual. I wouldn't go into details at this juncture, um, but it is an individual that we located, um, and we are continuing our investigation. Investigators say Peyton was spotted by video surveillance in New York on Tuesday, but there's been no sightings since. Peyton Cox is 5'8. She was last seen wearing black and red checkered flannel pajamas, a white hoodie and dark jacket, and she has a black backpack. At this time her family in Neptune is not speaking out, but a block or so away from their home there is a missing person photo of the teen on a utility pole. The Trenton diocese, which oversees Red Bank Catholic, has declined comment, but the chief of Neptune Police says Peyton's family and friends are very concerned for her well-being. We want her to know if she's watching this to please reach out even if you call 911 or maybe call a family member or a friend and just let us know that you're OK. As of right now, the prosecutor here in Monmouth County is not revealing who the teenager had planned on meeting in New York City, but that person has been questioned. We can also tell you that state police, NYPD, and FBI are all involved in searching for this team. That's the latest in Red Bank. I'm Chris Keating, News 12, New Jersey.

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Police say Payton Cox went missing the night of Sunday Feb. 16 after officials say she boarded a train from Long Branch that was headed to New York City. 

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