Oak Creek girl found, mother accused of custody interference

MILWAUKEE - The mother of an Oak Creek girl who had been reported missing, but was later found safe, was formally charged on Wednesday with interfering with child custody.

In court:

Court records show 36-year-old Luisa Asala of Burlington is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on $20,000 bond.

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The backstory:

Lillian Asala, 13, was found safe in Watertown on March 7; she'd been missing for nearly a week. She had left her Oak Creek home and headed to a skate park on Drexel Avenue on March 1, and police said her cellphone pinged about a mile away at Pennsylvania and Forest Hill.

Editor's note: For clarity moving forward, Luisa Asala will be referred to as Asala. Lillian Asala will be referred to as Lillian.

Missing poster for Lillian Asada

According to a criminal complaint, Lillian's father has primary custody of the girl. While police were on the phone with the girl's aunt, making initial contact with family members, she received a call from Asala which was then merged so Asala could speak to officers. In that call, court filings said Asala told police the girl was "upset about her father." 

Searches and tips

Timeline:

On March 1, court filings said police police received an anonymous tip from an Oak Creek East Middle School student who said Lillian was "fine" and Asala was "hiding her." 

On March 2, Lillian's phone pinged in the area of a Cudahy apartment building near Hatley and Martin. The complaint states police responded and checked units in an apartment building, but didn't find anything. They also searched another residence in response to a tip. Later that day, Lillian's cellphone was turned into Oak Creek police after it had been found at Abendschein Skate Park. Another person said Lillian had communicated plans to "run away."

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On March 3, court filings said police went to Asala's home in Burlington around 12:50 a.m. The lights were on, but there was no indication that anyone was home. Officers also searched the father's home in Oak Creek again and knocked on at least 40 addresses in the area, but didn't find her. Detectives spoke to Asala around 11:30 a.m. and went to her workplace. There, she said Lillian had "been talking about running away" for some time. Asala also said she was "frustrated" that police kept coming to her house to look for her daughter, and she didn't believe the girl could run away because "she wouldn't be able to stay off social media or leave her phone behind." Later that night, Asala told a detective she did not know where her daughter was and had nothing to do with helping her run away.

On March 4, officers continued to knock on doors and look for Lillian, but she was not found. The complaint states the father led a search, which took them to Asala's workplace. There, an employee had "a lot to say" about how Asala was acting. That employee told police Asala had not been crying and "did not seem upset" that her daughter was missing – that she had been laughing and joking at work. The employee also said Asala was "upset" that people were looking for the girl. When the employee said she received a missing persons poster for Lillian, Asala told her to get rid of it. She also said Asala was "mad" that the girl's grandmother had done interviews and "mad" that there was a search party for her daughter.

On March 7, the complaint states investigators learned Lillian called a friend on March 2. In that call, she said she was safe with her mother. Officers then spoke to Asala again and confronted her about the phone call, at which point Asala said her daughter was with a friend and that "this went too far." When asked if the father was abusive toward their daughter, Asala said he is not. Asala was taken into custody.

Oak Creek Police Department

In custody

What they're saying:

Once in custody, court filings said Asala told detectives that she drove her daughter to a friend's house on March 1 and told the friend that Lillian should have no social media or phone contact. She later picked up her daughter and admitted Lillian was hiding in the residence when people came to look for her.

When police called Asala's friend and identified themselves, the complaint states the friend immediately hung up and then blocked additional phone calls. Officers went there, and Lillian came outside wearing the same clothes she was reported to be wearing when she went missing. The friend later said they did not call police because she was "shocked and scared" when she learned the girl had been considered missing.

What's next:

Of note, the complaint states it "does not exhaust all of the information available to the State of Wisconsin at this time."