BROOKHAVEN — Beverly Smith hasn’t seen her daughter since Friday, and she’s worried.

She believes her daughter, Natasha Nicole Smith, is in need of the help of mental health professionals.

But Beverly Smith said she thinks the teen is trying to elude her parents until Feb. 13, her 18th birthday.

“(Natasha) walked out of the house Friday night, and we missed her at about 9:30,” Beverly Smith said.

She described her daughter as a 5-foot-two-inch tall, 200-pound white female with long brown hair and hazel eyes.

Natasha was last seen wearing a red shirt and blue jeans, Beverly Smith said.

It is believed she may be traveling with a black female known as “Jazzmen,” Beverly Smith said.

“We know she’s not by herself, because she doesn’t have a driver’s license,” Beverly Smith said. “Someone has to be driving her around.”

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office investigator Johnny Hall said that in a situation like Smith’s, the first thing police look for is to find out who the teen’s friends are.

“The problem was she was very secretive to her parents about who her friends were,” Hall said.

The second thing he asked about was if Smith had a cell phone.

It turned out she did have a phone, but the family did not know about it until she contacted them on it, Hall said.

He will subpoena phone records to find out who the subscriber is, but Hall said he believes it is a pre-paid phone Natasha could have set up herself.

When Natasha contacted the family, she arranged a meeting with her sister, but then never showed up, Beverly Smith said.

The family believes she is in Franklin County, though Natasha has told other people she is in Hattiesburg, Beverly Smith said.

Natasha’s information has been entered in the National Crime Information Center database, but she is considered a runaway instead of missing, Hall said.

The difference is that a person who is considered missing is someone who has disappeared and not had any contact with anyone.

Anyone who sees Natasha Smith should contact local authorities or the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 601-833-5231.