The family of Karlie Gusé, 16, is desperate for signs of her

Calif. Teen Came Home After Party, But Was Gone by Morning and Hasn't Been Seen Since

“Everyone that knows her loves her,” Lindsay Fairley says of her 16-year-old-daughter, Karlie Gusé, a high school junior who adored classic movies like Grease and Sixteen Candles.

“She’s very well-liked and popular,” Fairley says, noting that she especially misses her daughter’s quick wit and quirky humor.

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Although Fairley, who lives in Nevada, hasn’t seen her daughter since before she went missing in October 2018, Fairley refuses to speak of Karlie in the past tense. In fact, Fairley clings to hope that her daughter — who lived with her father and stepmother in Bishop, California — will return home alive and well.

Karlie is one of many kids who go missing in America each year. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports that there were over 400,000 accounts of missing children in 2018.

According to Fairley, Karlie attended a small party with her boyfriend on October 12, 2018, the night before she went missing. They allegedly smoked marijuana there, and, as Fairley was told, Karlie grew agitated. According to what Fairley heard from witnesses, her daughter “was acting really scared and paranoid,” Fairley tells PEOPLE.

NBC News reports that Karlie called her stepmother, Melissa Gusé, to pick her up from the party. Melissa Gusé told NBC that they got home around 9 pm, ate dinner and Karlie headed to bed. Gusé allegedly saw her stepdaughter in bed around 5:45 a.m the following morning, but when she went to check on Karlie again later that morning, the girl was gone. She’d left her cellphone and other personal belongings at home. She was reportedly wearing gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt.

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Melissa Gusé and Karlie’s father, Zachary Gusé, told NBC they headed out to search for Karlie as soon as they realized she was missing. According to the Mono County Sheriff’s Office, there were sightings of her walking between 7 and 7:30 a.m. that day, and Fairley says there have been a few other potential sightings in the intervening months. But the family doesn’t know where Karlie is today.

“The emotions come in tidal waves at the least expected times, like when you’re walking and you hear something that reminds you of her,” Fairley says. “It’s not like her to journey off into the unknown. I miss our conversations, our talks, how she’d make me laugh.”