AVON PARK - The Highlands County Sheriffs Office is looking for Joanne Miller, 16, who went missing after a night out in Avon Park.

Eugenia Ruiz, Joanne’s grandmother, fears that Jocaquin “Moyo” Reyes, 20, who ran with Miller, may be pressuring Joanne into running with him. Jackie Swan, Joanne’s mother, was concerned Reyes might be aggressive and would respond violently if Joanne tried to leave him.

“I’m scared something’s wrong” Ruiz said.

Eugenia Ruiz said Joanne Miller, 16, told her Sunday afternoon that she was visiting a friend in Avon Park. Ruiz drove her to a motel on Main Street and dropped her off to see Reyes and other friends for a party.

At 9 p.m. that day, Ruiz called Joanne, telling her it was time to come home. Joanne said she didn’t want to be picked up.
Ruiz tried calling again to tell Joanne that she was coming to pick her up.

This is when Reyes, 20, took the phone from Joanne.

“We’re telling them we’re going to call the police,” Ruiz said. “He said ‘she’s my wife, she’s fine,’” mentioning they were in Orlando.

The next day, Ruiz contacted Reyes again asking for him to return Joanne.  He said he would drop her off at Ruiz’ house.
That never happened.

The next time they called, they realized Reyes sold his phone to someone in front of a Wal-Mart in Lakeland.

This case has been considered one of a missing person, which means there is no knowledge on the person’s safety.

“If we had a person come missing out of the blue and that isn’t their usual habit, that’s a missing person,” said Lt. John Chess, who coordinates missing persons investigations with the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office. Chess was not aware of any previous incidents involving Joanne.

Chess said his office just got the case Tuesday and detectives are still gathering information. Ruiz speculated that Joanne and Reyes may be heading to either Las Vegas or Mexico.

“We need at least a phone call from them to know that they’re okay,” Chess said.

Jocaquin Reyes also goes by the names “Moyo” and “Jorge.”

If anyone has any information on Joanne or Reyes and their whereabouts, contact Peter Barone or the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office at 863-402-7200.