'Stop hiding:' Missing girl's uncle sends message to niece's ex-boyfriend

None — PITTSBURGH -- The uncle of a missing Pittsburgh-area teen contacted Channel 11 News on Monday so he could send a message to his niece's ex-boyfriend.

Alivia Kail has been missing since last year. On Sunday night family and friends gathered on the one year anniversary of Kail's disappearance for a candlelight vigil. But the solemn event quickly changed when Alex Lorenzi's mother showed up to defend her son.

Lorenzi has never been charged in the case, but police said he was the last person to see Kail alive.  The couple had planned a trip to Florida last March, police said, and Kail has not been seen since.

Lorenzi's failure to cooperate with the investigation has led Kail's family members to become suspicious.

"Stop hiding behind your mother's skirt. You can come forward and say the truth, take a polygraph. Get this thing out of your way and stop saying, 'I don't know what happened to her,'" said Kail's uncle, Matthew Kail.

Lorenzi's mother and Kail's mother exchanged words at the vigil. Kail's uncle said the entire family is holding out hope for their loved one's return.

"We want her back, of course, but as time goes on it's hard to think that something bad hasn't happened to her," Matthew Kail said.

WPXI