Sikose Joseph, 14, walked away from her grandmother's home in Glassboro on Oct. 2.
GLASSBORO -- The family of a Trinidadian teen missing for nearly two weeks after she left the home where she was staying in South Jersey has a message for her: Please come home.
Sikose Joseph, 14, was visiting her grandmother on Williams Street in Glassboro for a few days with her older sister.
Police have issued several pleas for the public's help in locating her, but have received no tips so far.
Authorities believe Sikose didn't want to return home to Trinidad and ran away around 11 p.m. on Oct. 2.
"I heard the door when it closed," said her grandmother, Jacqueline Miles. Miles got up and asked her other granddaughter where Sikose had gone. "I thought she was with you," Sikose's sister replied.
By the time they realized what had happened, Sikose was gone.
"What enticed this young lady to walk out my door, I don't know," Miles said.
Surveillance cameras in the area captured her walking north on Main Street from High Street near Angelo's Diner shortly after 11 p.m. Oct. 2.
Glassboro police Detective Julie Howery thinks she may have boarded a bus and left the area.
The video shows her heading toward a bus stop, though they have no video of her boarding a bus. The video shows her stop and speak with someone for a few seconds before they go their separate ways. She could have been asking for information about a bus stop, Howery speculated.
"I would love to know who that person is and what they said to each other," she said.
Police spoke with drivers working that night on area bus lines, but no one recalls seeing Sikose. She may have hidden out that evening and boarded a bus the next day, Howery added.
"It's just a gut feeling that she got on a bus, but who knows."
She has no close friends in the Glassboro area, police said, has no cellphone and no active social media accounts. She does have family in the New Brunswick area and they are assisting in the search.
Teen from Trinidad reported missing in N.J.
Sikose lived with her mother in Highland Park until her mom's death several years ago. After that, she went to live with her father in Trinidad. He is in almost daily contact with Glassboro police, Howery said.
Sikose is a U.S. citizen described by her family as a loner, very intelligent and a bit of a bookworm.
She packed her possessions into a dark-colored backpack and a large pink purse and left the home with "a significant sum of cash," police said. She didn't take her passport.
Fliers with Sikose's photo and description have been posted in NJTransit buses around the region.
She suffers from asthma and does not have her inhaler, police said, so medical facilities across the state have been notified to be on the lookout in case she requires care.
Sikose is 4-foot-6 and 150 pounds. She was last seen wearing dark pants and a light-colored shirt.
Miles remains hopeful that her granddaughter will come home.
"I haven't been sleeping well at all since this happened," Miles said. "We want her to come home. Just tell her nothing will happen."
Anyone who may have seen her or has information on Sikose's whereabouts is asked to contact Glassboro Police at 856-881-1500 or call 911. Anonymous tips can be provided by texting "GLASSPD" and your tip to 847411 (tip411).
Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.