‘Our home is broken without you’: Search ramps up for missing Henderson teen

At the foothills of the southeast Las Vegas Valley, where Henderson turns into undeveloped desert, two distraught parents had a message for their daughter on Friday.

“Jenna, wherever you are or whoever you’re with, I just want you to come home,” Jennifer Swanson said through sobs, as volunteers on horses set out to join the search behind her. “I want you safe. We love you so much — please come home.”

Swanson is the mother of Jennaleah Hin, a 17-year-old Foothill High School senior who has been missing ever since leaving home on Monday evening.

Dozens of law enforcement officers from across the valley and volunteer crews have mobilized a large-scale, 10-mile search area in the wilderness.

“I just want to say, ‘I love you, and we just want you back,’ ” said Corey Swanson, Hin’s stepfather. “Our home is broken without you.”

A police K-9 picked up Hin’s scent going south from the boundaries of the valley on Thursday, police said — a concerning fact considering she left home with no water or cellphone, investigators said.

The search will continue throughout the weekend, with 30 to 40 Henderson Police Department officers and Red Rock Search & Rescue volunteers canvassing a swath of the open desert. Volunteer residents are helping to canvass parks.

Left without a backpack

Hin left her Henderson home around 7 p.m. on Monday after a family dispute, said Mark Speer, a commander with Red Rock Search & Rescue, a nonprofit that helps agencies find missing people. Her parents, one of whom works for the North Las Vegas Police Department, began looking for her that evening after filing an initial police report.

“The more we search out here in the desert, the higher probability that she’s not out here and she’s actually in the city somewhere,” Speer said. “We’re really excited about that possibility.”

On her way out of the home, Hin said something to the effect of: “You don’t have to worry about me anymore,” according to Speer. Home surveillance footage caught the teen leaving the home without any backpack or water.

Investigators said foul play wasn’t suspected as of Friday evening and that she may be alone. Speer vowed that searchers would not give up.

Henderson police Lt. Charles Hedrick told reporters that police immediately interviewed Hin’s boyfriend and her friends, and all of them were cooperative in answering questions. Hin has never run away from home before and has no history with law enforcement, the lieutenant said.

It’s standard procedure to launch such a search for a missing person who was in distress, Hedrick said.

‘We do want the public’s help’

While Speer and Hin’s parents are asking the public to keep an eye out for her, Speer said rescue teams have enough help at the search based at Horizon Ridge Parkway and Kind Avenue. Since initial media reports came out, Henderson police said officers have received a handful of calls with possible sightings, which officers are following up on.

“I don’t want the world coming up here and racing around, not knowing what they’re doing,” Speer said on Friday. “But we do want the public’s help in looking out for her on the hope that she’s somewhere in the city.”

Hin, who has waist-length black hair, was wearing black sweatpants and an Under Armour hoodie on the night she disappeared, Speer said. Investigators will sweep the open desert until at least Sunday, he said, adding that crews may redirect the search after that.

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X and @alanhalaly.bsky.social on Bluesky.