Detroit family worried for sisters who ran off after meeting man online

DETROIT (WJBK) - UPDATE: Police say the sisters have been found safe and are in police protective custody. The case is still open.

Maria Mangum can't understand why her 15- and 19-year-old daughters would run off in the middle of the night.

"Ashley and Skylar, please come home," she says. "They are gospel singers, both of them. They are a sibling group. They go out and perform in the community."

At about 3 a.m. Saturday, Mangum's husband came home early to their home on Strathcona in Detroit when he spotted Ashley with a packed bag running out of the house.

"Her father noticed they were leaving," Mangum says. "He tried to stop her, the eldest daughter."

Skylar quickly followed Ashley, though empty-handed and in her pajamas. Their younger brother wondered what was going on.

"I believe [Skylar] went because she didn't want to be without her sister," Mangum said. "They're very close."

Mangum says when the two girls ran off, they could see an idling car at the end of the block. She could not make out the kind of car -- and the two girls got inside.

"The only lead I have to go on, was the young man my daughter was in contact with in January until now," Magnum says.

Mangum says her daughters, who are home-schooled, are good students and rarely get into trouble. The only dispute is the 28-year-old man Ashley began talking to on Blackpeoplemeet.com.

"She refused to let us meet the person," Mangum says. "Because she knew we wouldn't approve."

Mangum says Ashley told her she stopped seeing the man, but she learned that wasn't true and took both of the girls' cellphones away.

"I came home and I noticed Skylar, who is a minor, she is 15, had a two-hour conversation with this guy," she says.

She became more worried when their father's phone was found in a park not far from their home. Mangum also noticed a plastic bag with Ashley's long braids cut off in the house.

"They were cut out so drastically to the point that, whoever told her to cut them out, a lot of her hair was missing with the braids," Mangum says. "My daughters are very much into fashion; they love their hair. They would never cut their hair."

Ashley, who weighs about 150 pounds, was last seen wearing jeans and black shoes. Skylar, who is about 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds, was last seen wearing pajamas and a red robe.

Mangum says she just wants them home.

"Please call," she says. "Just let us know you are okay."