A North Carolina teen who went missing for five years has an unlikely story to tell.
Rachel Natacha Owens, who disappeared in 2011 when she was 15, was found using a false identity last week in Columbus, Ohio, officials said.
Owens didn’t reach out to her family the entire time she was gone. Investigators have indicated that this was intentional.
An initial investigation showed that she went to “great lengths” of her own accord to stay hidden, according to the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office.
“Sheriff John Ingram, along with investigators from the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office, is delighted to announce that Rachel Natacha Owens has been located and is safe,” the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The now-21-year-old woman was found around noon on Friday. Before that, she was last seen in North Carolina getting off her school bus at South Brunswick High School in Boiling Spring Lakes.
“There is no foul play in Rachel’s disappearance and no charges will be pursued at this time. Investigative efforts revealed that Rachel left and remained away on her own will. Investigators have learned that she went to great lengths to intentionally conceal her whereabouts, even assuming a false identity and date of birth,” the office said.
Investigators in 2013 said she had run away before.
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