A teenage girl who went missing from her Palm Coast home last year and was feared endangered was found "alive and well" Tuesday.
The search was on for Samantha Posella, now 18, after Flagler County Sheriff's Office issued a press release Monday seeking tips from the public to locate her. She'd been missing since October and investigators feared she may have been a victim a crime.
But agency spokeswoman Brittany Kershaw sent an email late Tuesday afternoon indicating Posella surfaced "safe and alive" at a South Florida police station Tuesday. She showed up and notified authorities there that she'd been reported missing. Investigators determined she was living in South Florida under an alias.
Posella was 17 when she disappeared Oct. 24 and her parents spent eight months unaware as to where she was, officials said. A conversation this week with the couple that last saw the Palm Coast teen before she went missing had Flagler County investigators worried that she may have been endangered.
The Sheriff’s Office issued a media release late Monday seeking information from anyone who knew Posella’s whereabouts.
“We love her and miss her,” Barbara Posella said Tuesday, prior to news of her step-daughter's discovery. “If anybody does see her, we’re just begging and begging and begging that they please call the Sheriff’s Office. Please take a good look at her face and look at her because she’s got to be somewhere in this area.”