Officials said the 15-year-old may still be in Florida, possibly near Coral Springs or Tamarac.
CORAL SPRINGS, FL — Family and friends continued searching this weekend for 15-year-old Skylee Merino, a Broward County girl reported missing from Coral Springs after she was last seen Tuesday in nearby Tamarac.
The search has drawn public appeals from relatives, friends, local police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Detectives have classified the case as a runaway, but family members said they fear Skylee could be in danger. Coral Springs police said they had not received information showing she was in danger.
Skylee was last seen around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at Cypress Commons Plaza off Southgate Boulevard in Tamarac, family friend Mary Delgado said. “You never expect something like this to happen to anyone,” Delgado said as relatives and friends shared flyers and posts seeking information. She said the family has been left with little more than questions since Skylee disappeared. “It’s something that is breaking all of us because we have no response or anything,” Delgado said.
A missing teen flyer posted in the area said Skylee was with a man she met on Snapchat. Family members said she later asked friends for a ride that morning, but they were unable to pick her up. She has not been heard from since, according to the family’s account. Delgado said Skylee’s friends did not know the man’s identity. “Not even her friends know who this guy is because he says don’t follow me on social media,” Delgado said. “So nobody knows anything.”
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said Skylee is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She has brown eyes and black hair. Officials said she may still be in Florida and possibly in the Coral Springs area. They also said she may have traveled to nearby Tamarac. The agency asked for help Friday, three days after authorities said she was last seen. Local reports said no one had seen or heard from her since she was reported missing.
The case has involved both Coral Springs and Tamarac authorities, Delgado said. Skylee’s sister, who lives out of state, also started a social media campaign to spread her photo and basic identifying details. The online effort has focused on the Coral Springs and Tamarac areas, where officials believe Skylee may be. The family’s concern has centered on the reported Snapchat contact and the lack of contact since Tuesday morning. Authorities have not publicly identified the man described in the flyer.
No charges had been announced in the case as of Sunday, and officials had not released a suspect description or a confirmed route of travel. The immediate next step remained the search for Skylee and any information that could confirm where she went after she was seen at the Tamarac plaza. Coral Springs police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children remained the main listed points of contact in the missing child alert.
Relatives and friends said they are holding onto hope as the search moves through another day. Flyers and social media posts have kept Skylee’s name and photo circulating across Broward County. The area where she was last seen sits near busy commercial corridors linking Tamarac and Coral Springs, giving searchers a wide area to cover. Family members said the silence since Tuesday has deepened their worry, especially because Skylee has not contacted friends who tried to help her that morning.
As of Sunday, Skylee remained missing, and officials continued to list Coral Springs and Tamarac as possible areas connected to the search. The next milestone in the case is any confirmed sighting, public update or police finding that narrows where she may be.
Author note: Last updated Sunday, April 26, 2026.