17-year-old girl still missing after a week

LYNN – The family of a 17-year-old girl who ran away last week is asking the community for help finding their loved one and bringing her home.”We love her, and we want to know that she’s OK, and we want her home,” Andromahi “Maggie” Lemonias, the girl’s grandmother, said Thursday. “We all of us love her, we want her back.”Panagiota “Penny” Papageorgiou, 17, was reported missing by her family on March 11. Lemonias said Papageorgiou was last seen by the family on that day when her mother dropped her off at school. Papageorgiou said she might have night school that evening and said she would call her mother when she needed a ride home, Lemonias said. The family never got a call and contacted police.The family also found letters that Papageorgiou had written, saying she was sorry but was leaving, Lemonias said.Police said Papageorgiou was last seen on Friday, March 13 across from Lynn English. She was wearing a short black leather jacket, blue jeans, and black boots and also had a black Columbia jacket with a hood.She is described as a white female, 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 90 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.Lemonias said that the family has looked for Papageorgiou in Lynn, Salem, as well as in Medford, where they lived until two years ago.Papageorgiou was described as a very sweet and trusting girl, but also naive, Lemonias said. The family is concerned because Papageorgiou’s behavior “changed a 180 turn” recently when she met a boyfriend, Lemonias said. But she said the boyfriend says he doesn’t know anything about where Papageorgiou may be.”She is a sweet kid,” Lemonias said.Anyone who has any information about Panagiota should contact the Lynn Police Department at 781-595-2000.