THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) — The mother of a 15-year-old honors student who disappeared five days ago after taking her physics Regents, announced on Instagram Tuesday night the girl had returned home.
“I want to thank everyone from the bottom of our heart,” the mother wrote. “My family is blessed to have [her] home safe and sound. We are now working on the help we all need.”
PIX11 News is no longer publishing the teen’s name since she has been located and she’s a minor. On Monday, PIX11 News interviewed the girl’s mother and stepfather as they tearfully posted missing persons flyers on the Grand Concourse, where the family lives.
The girl had told her mother Thursday morning she was “frightened” of taking the physics exam at The High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan and worried the test would be too hard. The mom said she had tried to reassure her daughter, calling her “amazing” and a member of the NYPD Explorers program.
The mother learned her daughter left school at 11 a.m. Thursday and took a No. 2 train northbound into the Bronx. Fellow students said they saw the girl on the train when they got off at Simpson Street. This was already four stops past where the 15-year-old would normally get off the subway to go home.
The mom found out her daughter was going to meet a friend but didn’t have a name. The mother said the teen left her cellphone at home the day of the test.
Family members and friends reached out to PIX11 News over the weekend, as the frantic search for the girl intensified.
“It’s like a nightmare,” the mother cried, as she tried to get attention for her daughter’s case. She said the girl was a peer mediator at school and was already receiving scholarship applications from the National Honor Society.
Detectives from the Missing Persons Squad got involved in the case.
The mother thanked people on Instagram for highlighting her family’s ordeal.
“You guys are all truly amazing all the prayers, heartfelt stories and repost,” the mother wrote. She ended the post with a simple “Thank you” with an emoji showing hands in prayer.
