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Police are seeking nationwide assistance in locating Barnes, because they believe she may have been taken out of the state of Maryland:
"It is likely that she may have been taken outside the state of Maryland," Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told WBALTV.com in an e-mail.
"Detectives are growing increasingly concerned with this disappearance and now suspect foul play, possibly abduction,"Guglielmi wrote. "Investigators have no leads."
Barnes was scheduled to graduate early from high school and wanted to attend Towson University. She has no criminal record and no history of running away. Homicide detectives are now involved in the case.
Both Barnes' mother and father have spoken out. The family gathered at a vigil Saturday and pleaded for the safe return of their daughter:
"I know she's traumatized right now. She's scared out of her mind right now. She's a little innocent girl who does not do any harm to anyone," said Barnes' mother, Janice Sallis.
"My family is not sleeping. My family is not eating," said Barnes' father, Russell Barnes.
The Charlotte Observer is reporting that Barnes' mother is upset because the apartment where her daughter was staying with her older sister had been visited by at least 20 men.
"Deena Barnes misled me," Sallis said to the Observer. "I'm a very protective mother. She assured me it would be just she and Phylicia.
This is a sad case that only emphasizes how important it is that we know where are children are at all times.
Barnes was last seen wearing a navy blue pea coat with a hood, a turquoise shirt and blue jeans, white slipper-boots and was carrying a caramel-colored purse.
Anyone with information in the case is urged to contact Baltimore Police at 443-984-7385.