Missing Texas 10-Year-Old Girl Found Safe: Police

Ashley Lopez, the Texas 10-year-old who was subject to a missing person alert, was found safe in Austin, Tx., on March 8, 2019. Austin Police Department

Austin police have announced that a 10-year-old girl who went missing from school has been found safe and sound.

Ashley Lopez was the subject of an overnight police search on Thursday, March 7, involving over 20 officers, KXAN reported.

Police announced in a tweet Friday morning that the little girl had been found.

A representative with the Austin Independent School District told KXAN that the child had last been seen around 3 p.m. Thursday at Overton Elementary School. She was supposed to go to an after-school activity but failed to show up.

Police conducted a search of the area, reviewed surveillance footage, and called people in nearby neighborhoods using a Reverse 911 system.

Missing Autistic Georgia Boy Found

A missing autistic boy who went missing this past weekend was discovered, according to officials.

Fox5 reported that Brendan Allen was discovered on Sunday, March 1.

The 12-year-old was last seen around 9 a.m. in Hall County, Georgia.

CBS46 previously reported that before the boy was found, Brendan was diagnosed with autism and might flee from a stranger if he is approached.

Officials had advised that anyone who sees the boy should call 911.

Other details about the case are not clear.

Two California Girls Found

Two young sisters, ages 5 and 8, were also found alive after spending two days and nights in a cold forest, according to reports.

According to officials, 5-year-old Caroline and 8-year-old Leia Carrico went missing from their home on the afternoon of March 1.

The two little girls are believed to have walked away from their home in Benbow, Calif., on March 1, 2019. Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office

“I am pleased to report that we all are witnessing a miracle today. Caroline and Leia have been found safe and sound in southern Humboldt,” Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal told ABC News.

Deputies in Humboldt County, California, said they went out after their mother told them not to, ABC7 reported.

Temperatures in Humboldt, located in the northwestern portion of the state, dropped into the 30s this week.

Leia Carrico (L), age 8, and Caroline Carrico, 5, were last seen at about 2:30 p.m. on March 1, 2019, outside of their home in Benbow, Calif., officials said. Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office

Officials said the girls were found near Richardson State Park, which is more than one mile south of their home.

“They were safe and sound, still ambulatory, in good spirits, no injuries,” Honsal explained.

“We could not have had a better outcome than we’ve had this morning,” he added to ABC. “It’s an absolute miracle.”

Missing Children

There were 464,324 missing children reported in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center in 2017, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement, they must be entered into the database. In 2016, there were 465,676 entries.

“This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total,” the center noted.

In 2017, the center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 27,000 missing children. In those cases, 91 percent were endangered runaways, and 5 percent were family abductions.

Reve Walsh and John Walsh speak during The National Center For Missing And Exploited Children, the Fraternal Order of the Police and the Justice Department’s 16th Annual Congressional Breakfast at The Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington on May 18, 2011. Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images

About one in seven children reported missing to the center in 2017 were likely victims of child sex trafficking.

The number of reported missing children has significantly decreased in recent years, according to a 2017 report by the Department of Justice (pdf). The number of children reported missing dropped from 6.5 per 1,000 children in 1999 to 3.1 per 1,000 in 2013.

Missing children typically fall into five categories: kidnapped by a family member, abducted by a nonfamily perpetrator, runaways, those who got lost, stranded, or injured, or those who went missing due to benign reasons, such as misunderstandings, according to the report researchers.

Epoch Times staff writer Jack Phillips contributed to this report.