A teenager who had been missing for nearly two months since vanishing from her family’s Michigan home in May was found Sunday living with and engaged to an older man she had just met, authorities said.
According to the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, Penelope “Penny” Wise, 17, was reported missing by a family member after running away from her Cedar Springs home around 6 p.m. on May 31.
She was last seen around midnight on June 1 when she was seen on security camera footage walking alone near a bar in Rockford.
Wise met up with her 44-year-old fiance that night, the sheriff’s office said. He said in an update on Monday About her missing persons case.
The girl, who wore braces, was thought to have left home voluntarily, but nearly two months after she was last seen near the bar, there was no sign of her anywhere.
She had not been seen by passersby or on security cameras in the area, sparking a massive search by investigators from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Michigan State Police and the Rockland Department of Safety.
“We believe she left the home intentionally, but because time has passed and there have been no sightings, KCSO [Kent County Sheriff’s Office] “She and her family are concerned about her well-being,” the sheriff’s office said in a June 7 update.
Despite assistance from other law enforcement agencies and volunteers, additional searches on the ground and a call-out with information about Wise, investigators had no leads regarding her disappearance by Sunday morning.
An “observant” local resident contacted police at about 11am after seeing the girl riding her bike and recognising her from a missing person flyer.
Investigators responded to the scene and discovered that Wise had been living with an unnamed man, 27 years her senior, since the night she ran away from home.
She first met him at around 2am on June 1st and lived in his house from that day until last Sunday, when she was seen by a resident leaving the house on her bicycle.
Investigators also discovered that Wise and the man had become engaged sometime between her disappearance and this weekend.
Police said the girl was found “safe and sound” and sheriff’s detectives are investigating the incident.
The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office has not admitted to any charges against Wise’s new fiance. According to M Live.
