A teenager who went missing from Port Huron, Michigan, in 2021 was found alive and reunited with her family Wednesday.
U.S. Marshals located the girl, who went missing at the age of 14, just one day after the Michigan State Police and Missing Child Clearing House forwarded the case to them, Fox 2 reported. A press release from law enforcement reported that investigators found evidence of sexual assault, and that the teen was reportedly several months pregnant when she was rescued, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Man Who Raped 3 Women And Forced Victims To Dig Their Own Graves Seeks Early Prison Release Under DC Law)
A Michigan teen who went missing at 14 years old in 2021 was found in a Port Huron home by U.S. Marshals. https://t.co/n1EkYEmlFH
— Local 4 WDIV Detroit (@Local4News) February 9, 2023
“We take the responsibility of locating and reuniting missing children with their families very personal and extremely serious,” said Owen Cypher, U.S. Marshal for Eastern Michigan. “It is what we would want if our own children were missing; for dedicated investigators to work tirelessly to bring them home, safely.”
After obtaining a search warrant, the Michigan Violent Offender Task Force searched the house where the girl was being held captive and found her inside a closet. Child Protective Services took the child to a hospital for a health assessment immediately after the rescue, Fox 2 reported.
The occupants of the residence provided false information to authorities and denied the child was in their possession. Police are pursuing kidnapping charges against the child’s biological mother, who previously lost custody of the girl, according to the Associated Press.
The girl has been reunited with her biological father.