Abigail Hernandez went missing on October 9, 2013 while walking home from school. The teen had sent several text messages shortly before she disappeared but nothing that offered a clue of who had taken her or where she had gone.
Police originally thought that Abigail had made it to her home and then went missing, but they later determined that was not the case. They also originally thought that she had made a call the same evening she went missing, but determined that was not true either.
While investigating, the police could not find any suspicious evidence and were treating Abigail’s disappearance as a missing person’s case.
Hundreds of people in the town of Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire and nearby towns searched for Abigail in the days after her disappearance.
Several months after Abigail’s disappearance her mother received a letter from her. The family breathed a sigh of relief, but was still concerned for the teen’s safety. Police determined that Abigail had likely run away but believed she was coerced by someone.
Police continued to search for Abigail and she was returned home to her family on Sunday.
“We said all along, this was a child who was missing and we marshalled all our resources and we can gratefully say that she was able to be reunited with her family,” said Jane Young, chief of the attorney general’s criminal bureau.
Police are not giving any details about the circumstances under which Abigail was found and her family has asked for privacy.
“The long and short of it is, quite honestly, we are just happy that she’s home safe and sound right now,” FBI Special Agent In Charge Kieran Ramsey said Monday.
Do you think Abigail ran away on her own or was she taken and coerced to stay away from her family?
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