Ataui Deng, model and niece of Alek Wek has been missing since Aug.6, according to police in New York City.
Deng’s friend, Ajak Deng, posted a message to her Instagram page, asking for help from anyone who might information about her whereabouts.
The message posted on Ajak Deng’s Instagram reads “MISSING: My friend Ataui Deng has been missing for 10 days. She was last seen in the Lower East Side of New York City. She is 5 feet 10 inches tall and slim. If you see her please email [email protected]. Thank you.”
According to The Village Voice, she was attending a party at the time of her disappearance:
The NYPD says Deng, who lives on the Lower East Side, went missing around midnight on Wednesday, August 6. She was last seen leaving 251 W. 48th in Manhattan. According to Ali, two friends saw Deng that night at a party at The Attic in Hell’s Kitchen.
Grant Monohon was one of the last people to see Deng. He had a romantic relationship with Deng, and tells the Voice the two of them lived together. Monohon is an actor who’s had roles in Transamerica and Lady in the Water; he also works in PR. He organized the event at the Attic the night Deng went missing. The model was acting “irregularly” that night, Monohon says.
“I walked outside with her. I gave her my keys, she didn’t want them. She’s just standing there. I was working, I had to go back inside.”
Around midnight, he says, “I walked outside with her. I gave her my keys, she didn’t want them. She’s just standing there. I was working, I had to go back inside.”
Deng, Monohon says, will sometimes disappear for a day or two, but this is different. She began missing professional appointments, and other people started calling him, asking where she was. “Her bookers hit me up like, ‘Where’s she at?,’ Your guess is as good as mine.” About four days ago, he went to the police.
Deng has modeled for Zac Posen and for Proenza Schouler among many other other designers, according to a profile of her on The Cut.
Police are asking anyone in the public who may have knowledge about her whereabouts to contact them. Tips can also be made by contacting the Missing Persons Squad at 212-694-7781, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), using the Crime Stoppers website or by texting 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.
UPDATE: NBC News is reporting Ataui Deng was found alive at a NYC hospital, as news broke of her disappearance.
Ataui-Deng Hopkins was found Monday at an area hospital, 12 days after she was last seen leaving the rooftop XVI Lounge on West 48th Street near Eighth Avenue on Aug. 6, according to the NYPD.
[…]
A spokeswoman at Trump Models, Hopkins’ agency since 2008, said before the 22-year-old was found that everyone was worried about the “much loved” model and had been making calls and trying to find her.
Image via Getty.