A week ago, three pregnant teens allegedly hit a 53-year-old woman with a frying pan, tied her up with electrical cords and ran away with her SUV, credit card and cell phone.

Still on the run, the girls' running away from the New Hope Maternity Home on Jan. 16 has become fodder for pro-choice bloggers and made headlines from the United Kingdom to Oregon, especially in the girls' home states of California, Texas and Illinois. Two of the girls are 15, one is 16.

The 16-year-old's mother, Gina Castro of Chicago, is frantic for news of her daughter.

"I'm not getting any information at all from anybody, I'm scared to death for her life. My daughter's in more trouble now than she was before," Castro said. She said that until Monday the police hadn't called her about the alleged assault. She now believes her daughter is in California but can't get any confirmation.

American Fork Police Chief Lance Call said that they were talking to the families through Jana Moody, the caretaker of New Hope, who the girls allegedly bound and assaulted. Police had not talked to the families about their missing daughters.

He said that girls' warrants were updated Monday to reflect a kidnapping charge because they bound Moody and another pregnant 17-year-old in the New Hope Program. They are also wanted on charges of aggravated assault, stealing a vehicle and using the stolen credit card.

Call said police are watching for use of the stolen credit card and checkbook. After a week, the only expense the girls have had on the card was for fuel at an American Fork gas station.

If they don't use that, Call said that the girls could be difficult to find.

"It's possible, if they've gotten rid of that van, and they are keeping their heads down, in other words not attracting attention to themselves, it's possible they could be gone for awhile," he said.

But they can't hide forever. These girls have babies on the way, and babies don't wait for warrants to be served or charges to be filed. Call said that if police pulled them over for anything, the warrants would appear in the National Crime Information Center, and they would be arrested.

Moody was in charge of calling the girls' parents and telling them what happened. Call said not contacting the parents immediately was out of concern, to not overwhelm the families.

"Some people get very intimidated in talking to a police officer directly," Call said. "If we can just keep this as cooperative as we can, we'll be in a lot better shape for everyone."

Co-director of the home, Spencer Moody, told the Associated Press after the attack that they would be shutting down the home, despite having dozens of girls stay there without problems. American Fork police Sgt. Shauna Greening said that in the three years the home has been licensed, this was the first problem.

Castro said that her daughter has called her aunt, in northern California, and her boyfriend -- who is also the baby's father -- but even that was a few days ago. She has not called her.

"I've been trying to find out some information too, but I can't find anything out," said the boyfriend, Carlos Rivera of Chicago. He said he was worried for his girlfriend and his unborn child's safety.

"I haven't talked to her for four days, so I don't know what's going on," he said.

The girls have been missing for seven days. He said he didn't know where the girls were, though last time they talked, they were going to California.

Castro suspects that her daughter didn't want to give her baby up for adoption, when friends and family members were telling her to. It may be one of the reasons why the girls decided to run.

The New Hope Maternity Home Web site says that the program houses the girls for the term of their pregnancies and two months afterward. It provides both parenting classes and counseling for girls who choose adoption.

Castro said she knew her 16-year-old daughter didn't like being at New Hope. Far away from her friends and boyfriend, the girl didn't like not being able call or e-mail them. That's what her mother wanted, originally.

"That was my whole plan, trying to get her away from the whole elements in Chicago, going through a teen intervention program," Castro said. "Now she's in a worst position when she started."

Natalie Andrews can be reached at 344-2548 or nandrews@heraldextra.com.

Police are looking for a silver 2005 Dodge Caravan, Utah license 128 VTX. Anyone with information can call the American Fork police at 763-3020.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.