WEST JORDAN, Utah — A 14-year-old girl who went missing Nov. 22 has been found, West Jordan Police announced Friday.
According to police, 14-year-old Mia Garcia was found in California, and a male suspect has been taken into custody.
Last week, cops said the teen may have voluntarily left with another teen. The two are pictured below.
Officers initially said it doesn’t appear to be an abduction. Security cameras captured Garcia calmly walking with the teen suspect down the hallway at her school. Classmate Jack Cassidy saw their photos on the news Wednesday night and said he didn’t recognize the teen Mia was with.
While police confirm the young man doesn’t attend Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan, “it does appear they likely knew each other but as far as exactly what that relationship is we don’t know at this time,” said Lt. Richard Bell of the West Jordan Police Department.
According to police, Mia’s family said they don’t know who the suspect is, but last Friday at 3 p.m., cops said the two left Joel P. Jensen Middle School in a dark colored compact car.
“Everybody thought she was sick or home sluffing, we didn’t know,” Cassidy said.
Details surrounding the recovery of the teen were not immediately made available.
