KANE COUNTY, Utah — Police in southern Utah say they have found three runaway teens who were reported missing Thursday night.
Police said the three teens from Cedar City — 15-year-old Mkinzy Messerly, 16-year-old Crystal Ann Rayburn, and 15-year-old Kyler Morris — were found early Saturday afternoon after a multi-day search.
Someone reported seeing them Thursday around 8 p.m. in Orderville, about 60 miles southeast of Cedar City. They were dropped off at a grocery store in the town, police confirmed, and Kane County Sheriff's deputies learned they were "possibly camping in an undisclosed location" after several hours of investigating.
The teens were then spotted Friday in Glendale, a town about four miles north of Orderville. Police believed they were in the Glendale Bench area, and a family member found items that he believed belonged to the teens on a dirt road in that area Friday afternoon. The Kane County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team responded and helped search for the teens until about 2 a.m. Saturday.
Emergency dispatch received a tip Saturday shortly before noon about the teens' location, which included GPS coordinates in the Glendale Bench area. Kane County deputies went to the area, but family members helping with the search found the kids before the police arrived after getting a call from one of them.
Officials said the three were healthy and uninjured.
Deputies and volunteers spent a total of about 200 hours on the case, and the Kane County Sheriff's Office said they were "happy about the positive outcome and that the youth have been reunited with their families."
