Missing teenager Madison Bell, 18, was found safe after missing on Sunday, police said.
Madison went missing around 11:20 a.m. on Sunday, May 17, after leaving home to visit a tanning salon a few hours before her graduation ceremony.
His car was then found abandoned in a church parking lot, unlocked with his cell phone and his keys still inside, raising immediate suspicions of foul play.
However, the Highland County Sheriff’s Office now says that Madison has been in contact to confirm that she is safe and of her own free will, but does not want her location disclosed. Police say no arrests will be made in the case.
Missing 18-year-old Ohio teenager Madison Bell was found safe after her disappearance on Sunday
Madison’s family was certain that she would not leave alone a few hours before graduation, but it now appears that she left voluntarily and did not want her family to find her.
The disappearance of the teenager raised huge concerns in the community and a reward of $ 15,000 was displayed for the information that led to her return.
Madison’s family issued a statement saying, “We ask the public and the media to respect our privacy during this difficult time when we are emotionally believed.”
“We are just relieved to know that Maddie is alive and not in physical danger.”
The family thanked all the agencies that joined the teenager’s massive search, as well as the community for joining them during the trying ordeal.
“Every effort to find Maddie has touched us and we appreciate him from the bottom of our hearts,” the statement added.
The mysterious case quickly drew national attention, with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine advocating for the teen’s safe return and the FBI joining the investigation.
The teenager disappeared just two days after the re-opening of tanning companies in Ohio following the shutdown of the coronavirus.
When Madison, known to her family and friends as “ Maddie, ” did not return home from the tanning salon after about an hour, her mother began to text and send her messages. call but received no response.
Madison’s mother Melissa Bell (left) and the teen’s long-term boyfriend Cody Mann (right) made emotional calls for her safe return during the week she was missing.
Madison (pictured left with her living boyfriend) was due to finish school Sunday afternoon. Her mother said she wouldn’t have missed it
Mother Melissa Bell insisted that her daughter would never leave family and friends, especially during graduation week.
“She was still contacting me even if she was five minutes late,” said the distraught mother after she disappeared.
Fearing that Madison was in a car accident, her mother and longtime boyfriend went together to the parking lot of Good Shepherd Church near the Corner Market tanning salon, where they found her car.
“The windows are open, we open the door, her phone is there, her keys in the ignition, the change is in the container she had. The car was left unlocked, ”the mother told WHIO. “She would never leave her car unlocked, she would never leave her phone in there.”
Bell’s car was found abandoned with the keys still in the ignition in the parking lot of Good Shepherd Church in Highland County (photo)
Madison Bell, 18 (left and right), was last seen leaving her home in Ross County, Ohio on Sunday evening. She was heading to a tanning salon, but she never got there
Bell said that she had tried to unlock Madison’s phone but was unable to turn it over to law enforcement.
Cody Mann, Madison’s boyfriend for five years, broke down in tears pleading for his safe return in an interview with WXIX-TV on Tuesday.
“She is the most loving girl I have ever seen in my life. I mean, I can’t even explain it … I just want her to come home, ” he said. he says in sobs.
“I will see you when you get back, this is the last thing I have to say,” he added.
This man, spotted near the area where Madison’s car was found, had been wanted, but it is unknown whether he has any connection to the case
More than 300 volunteers came to pick up Madison Sunday and Monday, spending thousands of hours of work walking the trails and the woods, and distributing flyers.
Police released images of a man and a California license plate wanted in the investigation Thursday, saying the man was spotted in the parking lot where Madison’s car was found.
A church worker told police that the white four-door vehicle they saw in the lot stood out because there was no service due to COVID-19.
They said that a white man was standing near the vehicle, which they believed had California license plates. A police image was taken at a nearby business.
After Madison was confirmed safe, it was unclear whether the man had any connection to his decision to leave his family without notifying him.