By By GREG KATSKI

Community Editor
The Belhaven Police Department and other law-enforcement agencies are on the lookout for two 16-year-old girls believed to have run away from their homes in Belhaven.
Gregoria Alcantar and Renita Chase disappeared around 5 p.m. Monday. The department was notified of their disappearances by their families in two separate reports.
The teenagers may be staying with an older black man with the first name of Nicholas at Elks Mobile Home Park, located at 1989 Mill Road in Chocowinity, according to Sgt. D.S. Whitehurst.
“We don’t have reason to think they’re in danger, except for the cold weather,” he said.
Whitehurst said he obtained information of the girls’ suspected whereabouts from their peers at Northside High School.
“I spoke to several students (at Northside),” he said. “Some of them have spoken with the girls since they ran away.”
Whitehurst said several students were not cooperative during his investigation, adding that one student showed him a text message received from one of the girls at 11:11 a.m. Wednesday.
“The text said everything was OK and not to worry,” he said.
Chase’s family is worried about the teenager’s health, noting that she has a heart condition that requires daily medication. Her family said that missing a few doses of the heart medicine will not be life-threatening to her, but “for an extended period, it’s absolutely a concern,” Whitehurst said.
Belhaven Chief Frederick Clingenpeel said investigators will continue to follow other leads.
“We’ve had sightings in surrounding cities,” he said, specifically at the Williamston Wal-Mart. Whitehurst said that sighting hasn’t been confirmed.
Clingenpeel said the case doesn’t fit the criteria for an Amber Alert, but the department has been in contact with several agencies, including the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Chocowinity Police Department and North Carolina Center for Missing &Exploited Children.
Alcantar is a 5-foot, 2-inches tall, 105-pound Hispanic girl with brown eyes and black hair. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, boots with hearts on them and a gold chain necklace.
Chase is a 4-foot, 11-inches tall, 125-pound black girl. She was last seen wearing a black coat, brown pants and red-and-white shoes.
Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of the girls should call the Belhaven Police Department at 252-943-2242 or other area law-enforcement agencies.