Local residents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are happy that a missing teen with Down syndrome was found safe over the weekend.
17-year-old Kayla Darler is beloved by many, including members of a local group called Jamie's Dream Team, WTAE report Sunday.
Best news!#KaylaDarrah It was successfully discovered!#missing person #do not have https://t.co/qOngC2Eps5 pic.twitter.com/JC7UesnS5K
— Jennifer Coffindaffer (@CoffindafferFBI) January 6, 2024
The group organized a search for the young woman, and she was eventually found by a member of the team identified as Rebecca Bycoski.
“I'm so happy, so grateful, so grateful to the police and everything that went into finding her and helping organize and coordinating Jamie's Dream Team to help us get involved in the community. Thank you very much,” Bikoski said. ordeal.
Darer went missing early Friday morning after a miscommunication caused her to be dropped off at Strocks High School, which was closed due to a public works emergency.
The teenager was seen hours later after hopping on a bus heading downtown, but that was the last time anyone saw her until a miracle happened.
video footage show She is sitting and waiting at the bus stop with other people.
Jamie's Dream Team sprang into action immediately, handing out flyers and asking everyone to keep an eye out for Jamie while around 150 volunteers combed the area.
Jamie Ward said people were showing up by carloads of people asking how they could help with the effort.
“They were incredible. Parkway Center Mall opened there. They opened up to us as a warming shelter and as a base to hand out flyers. Nobody. It was unbelievable,” Ward explained.
#Please share: County police are assisting in the search for Kayla Darler, 17, of Stowe Township. This is an updated photo showing Kayla getting off the PRT bus on Stanwix Street downtown at 10:15 a.m. Please call 9-1-1 with information.
Further details: https://t.co/FAjRd36R1x pic.twitter.com/9FgzVFS0VZ
— Allegheny County PD (@AlleghenyCoPD) January 6, 2024
The search lasted nearly five hours until Bikoski found the young woman in front of a downtown store.police Said The doctor examined her and she seemed okay.
Bikoski was relieved that the girl wasn't scared when she was found.
she too Said CBS Pittsburgh She had been feeling a certain way about the situation all day. She said, “From the moment I started, I thought, 'I'm going to find her.' I'm very determined.”
According to the Jamie's Dream Team website, the charity's Mission It is “to lift the spirits of people suffering from serious illness, injury, disability, or trauma, and to alleviate the burden caused by them.”
