Malaija Bates never came home from school Nov. 22 and does not have her medication, her family said.
COLLINGSWOOD -- At her home Thursday, Rita Bates hastily answered a call from a number she didn't recognize. She hung up when she realized it was a telemarketer, and not news about her missing daughter.
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Malaija Bates, 15, has been missing since Nov. 22. (Submitted)She's been waiting for any news for 10 days. Malaija Bates, 15, never came home from school Nov. 22 and her family believes she may be in trouble.
Rita Bates said her daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the end of September -- not long after she ran away for the first time -- and does not have her medication now. She has expressed suicidal thoughts in the past, her mother said.
"We just want to find her," Rita Bates said.
She said Collingswood High School officials told her the teen skipped some classes Nov. 22 but returned for her last class. She never came home. Collingswood police told the family that interviews with her daughter's friends at the high school have been fruitless.
Also investigating her disappearance are officials at the Camden County prosecutor's office and police in Riverside, where she has family and a boyfriend. She also has ties to Roebling in Florence Township and Camden, Rita Bates said.
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She said her daughter has gone through some emotional times earlier this year that may have contributed to a decision to leave, including when she learned from Rita Bates' estranged family members that she was adopted and a woman she believed was her aunt is her birth mother.
The family moved from Riverside to Collingswood in September and were still unpacking when Malaija Bates disappeared.
"She was gone when we woke up," Rita Bates said.
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Malaija Bates (Submitted photo) She said Riverside police found her daughter days later, staying with her estranged relatives nearby. While away, she had made an allegation of abuse against her parents that Rita Bates says is unfounded.
A Department of Children and Families spokesman said he cannot comment on the existence of any abuse complaint.
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Malaija Bates (Submitted photo) Malaija was hospitalized at a crisis center in the end of September, her mother said, where she was diagnosed and given medication. After that she seemed to be doing well and making friends at her new school, Rita Bates said.
Rita Bates said that on the morning of Nov. 22, her daughter was her usual self and kissed her mom goodbye. She didn't have any extra bags or clothes.
"I told her to drink some juice or something because she hadn't had breakfast," she said.
Police descriped Malaija as approximately 5-foot-8 and 135 pounds with hazel eyes and long brown hair. Rita Bates said she was planning on dying her hair and wanted to get more piercings, so she may have done both things since she's been gone.
When she left school she was wearing black and white paisley pants, a black shirt and a pink sweater.
Anyone with information about Bates' whereabouts is asked to contact Sgt. Paul Audino of the Camden County prosecutor's office at (856) 225-8400 or Det. Brian DiCugno of the Collingswood Police Department at (856) 854-1900. Tips can also be emailed to ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org.
Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.