PORT HURON, Mich. (AP MODIFIED) — A 14-year-old girl who was reported missing over a year ago by her foster family has been found hiding in the closet of a Michigan home, authorities said.
A U.S. Marshals fugitive team found the girl Tuesday in Port Huron, about 62 miles (99 kilometers) northeast of Detroit. Child Protective Services took her to a hospital, where it was discovered that she was pregnant.
“She was crying,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Watson told the Detroit Free Press. “She didn’t know where she was going to go. She was pretty terrified. And she was afraid of losing her baby.”
Authorities are pursuing parental kidnapping charges against the girl’s biological mother, who previously lost custody of her daughter, Watson said.
The mother is believed to have found the girl after she ran away and started moving the girl from house to house, authorities said. The girl has been reunited with her biological father.
State police contacted Watson on Tuesday seeking help in locating the girl. Tips led authorities to the home. When police first tried to enter the home, the occupants refused to let them in. They later returned with a search warrant. That is when they found the girl.
