Missing Teens Make Contact with Parents [Updated]

Update, Wednesday, July 10, 6:02 p.m. 

The Fairfield Police Department issued the following statement Wednesday: 

"The two juveniles reported missing made contact with their parents by phone. Apparently they are refusing to return home as a result of a family dispute over a pet. Although last observed on State St & Fairfield Ave, Bridgeport, at approximately 10:30 p.m. last night, it’s now believed the two girls took a train to Waterbury to visit a friend.

The Fairfield Police Detective Bureau will continue assisting their parents in locating their daughters, however, there is no foul play in this case. The girls are simply refusing to return home at this time. If anyone spots the runaway girls, please contact the Fairfield Police Youth Bureau at 203-254-4835 or 203-254-4840, so that two juveniles can be located and turned over to their parents.

We would like to thank all of the callers who telephoned the police department with tips. They were incredibly helpful."

Original Post, Wednesday, July 10, 11:30 a.m. 

Two Bridgeport teens who were last seen in Fairfield late Tuesday have been reported missing.

Carmen Cotto, 16, and her sister Angelica, 14, were last seen at Marshalls on the Post Road when their father reportedly dropped them off to see their mother, an employee at the department store.

The girls went into Marshalls around 9 p.m. Tuesday to speak to their mother, who said she had no means of driving them back to their home on East Avenue in Bridgeport, and told them to leave with their father. The father had already left Marshalls at that point, but the girls left the store.

The sisters were not home by the time the mother returned from work, nor had they contacted their father, according to the report. The mother checked the area near Marshalls once more before reporting the girls missing.

Investigators do not believe the girls had cell phones, cash, or credit cards on them Tuesday night, and think the sisters remain somewhere in the area.

Anyone with information regarding the girls' whereabouts should call the Fairfield Police Department at 203-254-4808. Carmen and Angelica Cotto are pictured in the attached photo taken from Marshalls' surveillance footage.