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Father Desperate To Find Missing 18-Year-Old Hospital Volunteer

CHEVIOT HILLS (CBSLA.com) — A father is desperate to find his 18-year-old daughter who went missing early Monday morning.

Dr. Ardeshir Karimi told KCAL9's Kara Finnstrom that he last saw his daughter, Caroline, around 7 a.m. at their residence in the 2900 block of Queensbury Dr. in Cheviot Hills.

He said she was headed to work as a San Gabriel Valley Medical Center volunteer, but never showed up.

"She was going to the hospital. She put the hospital uniform on, she got to her car, she got lunch for herself to go to the hospital. She was going there. I don't know why it got interrupted," said Karimi.

Karimi said Caroline's last known stop was two miles away from her home at the Cheviot Hills Shopping Center. Security cameras showed her walking into Vons, grabbing food, going back to her car and then driving away.

"We didn't notice anyone around her. I keep watching the security camera of five minutes after she left and nobody was following her," said Karimi.

Right before Caroline left the Vons parking lot, she texted her mother that she was headed to her job.

"I just hope it's an issue of lapse of judgment and not anything more serious," her mother told KNX1070's Ed Mertz.

Search Continues For Missing Girl, 18

"I hope somebody gives a clue where Caroline is and we can use that clue to find her," Dr. Karimi said. "As a father, (I'm thinking), 'Is she alive? Dead? Is she kidnapped? Tortured?' You name it. It's hard to get the negative thoughts out of your brain."

So far, there has been no activity on Caroline's Facebook or email accounts. Her cellphone has also been turned off.

Caroline's family told detectives that she was scheduled to board an American Airlines flight at 7:20 a.m. Wednesday from LAX to Boston, Massachusetts, for a family gathering.

Caroline is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 135 pounds with brown hair, green eyes and a fair complexion. She was wearing a dark blue hospital shirt, white pants and orange and blue shoes.

The teen was driving a 2007 green Toyota Prius with California license plate number 5YVV475.

Anyone with information regarding Caroline's whereabouts was asked to contact Det. Alma Mercado of the LAPD's Missing Persons Unit at (213) 996-1800.

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