SALT LAKE CITY — A 16-year-old Utah girl has been missing since mid-July and hasn’t been heard from since. Human trafficking experts and advocates have been trying to locate Kandis Harris, who was last seen leaving a youth treatment facility in Salt Lake City on July 15, 2021.
“Tips or leads have come in and it appears she may still be in the area,” Amber Kehl, an advocate and trafficking survivor who is helping to give the disappearance some exposure. “We are concerned with her lack of communication.”
It’s also noted that Harris likely needs some sort of physical medical treatment, although it hasn’t been specified.
“There have been arrests that have occurred during the investigative process which also led us to believe this is possibly a trafficking incident and trafficking has occurred,” said Candace Rivera, CEO of Exitus, an anti-human trafficking organization. Rivera has reason to believe that Harris is being exploited and trafficked locally in the Salt Lake City area.
Rivera says that most people don’t understand that trafficking takes place out in the open and is primarily focused on exploiting a vulnerable population.
“It happens right out in the open, we’re talking main streets that you’re on every single day, neighborhoods that you’re shopping in, neighborhoods that you live in, it happens every day and it happens actually in the public,” said Rivera.
Salt Lake City Police told Fox13 on Thursday they are still actively looking for Kandis and the case is open and active. They encourage anyone with information to call dispatch at 801-799-3000.
Members of the community will be holding an outreach event on November 6 at Liberty Park between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. They’ll be handing out flyers and balloons representing the amount of days that Kandis has been missing. The public can sponsor a balloon for $10 per balloon. There is a community tip line that has been established if people have information: 801-995-8106.
There is also a $1,500 reward for information on Kandis.
The family of Kandis Harris has set up two accounts for donations:
Wells Fargo – Bring Kandis Home
Venmo – BringKandisHome
