The 17-year-old Ohio girl, Emma Linek, who disappeared after arriving at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Tuesday, has been found and is safe.
“Emma walked into a neighbourhood police branch late this afternoon and has been reunited [with] her father. FBI Atlanta appreciates the media and public’s assistance in spreading her photograph and for all of the information & tips,” FBI Atlanta tweeted Sunday.
The bureau’s Atlanta office had defined the missing girl as being “endangered” and in need of medication that she did not have at the time of her disappearance.
“Another issue that is of concern is that Emma has no known connection to the town of Atlanta or has in no way been here earlier than now and does not know anybody in Atlanta that we know of,”
Christopher Macrae, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta area office, stated all through a news conference on Saturday with Linek’s father, Mr Mike Linek.
Macrae stated Emma Linek was clinically diagnosed with autism
Emma Linek was initially booked on Tuesday on a Delta Airlines direct flight from Cleveland to Boston.
However, she missed that plane, the government stated. Macrae stated she caught another flight with a layover in Atlanta.
“That flight alternate was unscheduled. So she had no idea she would be in Atlanta,” Macrae stated. “Her baggage made it to Boston; however, she did not. Our top priority is to locate Emma and to ensure she’s OK.”
Macrae stated surveillance video at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport captured Linek, who is also going by the name Zari, wandering around the airport and seeming lost.
He stated Emma Linek was last seen around 10 a.m. Tuesday in the north daily car parking zone at Hartsfield, leaving the airport with a stranger.
Macrae stated cops tracked down the person that Emma Linek was seen leaving the airport with and interviewed him.
We’ve been in discussions with that individual; however, we have not found Emma. She was not with that person,” Macrae stated.
Macrae did not release the person’s name or say if he was a suspect in the girl’s disappearance.
Linek’s father, who attended the news conference in Atlanta with Macrae, had pleaded with the general public for information on his daughter’s whereabouts.
Eleanor Linek stated she dropped her daughter off at Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland on Tuesday morning.
“We took her to the airport, she passed through security, we noticed her go through security and to her gate,” Eleanor Linek stated. “We do not know what happened if she were given something to eat or what; however, she missed her plane.”
