NORFOLK, Va. — Missing Norfolk teen Kadence S. Morrell was found in another state.
According to a tweet from the Norfolk Police Department, authorities found the 15-year-old in Arizona.
Morrell was last seen on August 3 in the 3100 block of Norway Place.
For days, volunteers searched the Norfolk neighborhood off Lafayette Boulevard, where Kadence lived, for any sign of the teen. Amber Davis of the group hear Their Voices led search efforts yesterday. She said while handing out fliers, a couple told her Kandace asked them for a ride to a hotel near the Norfolk airport.
“They were just at a stop sign and I handed them a flier in their car and he goes, ‘Wait, wait wait! I think we gave her a ride yesterday.’ And then he handed the flier to his wife and she goes, ‘We gave her a ride yesterday. She was asking for a ride to the Hilton.’” Davis said. “We were handing out fliers and people were saying that they thought they’d seen her out in the Oceanview area near the airport – particularly the Hilton near the airport."
Although Davis is not sure if that tip led to police officers finding Kadence, she said she’s glad the teen is safe but she’s concerned about how someone so young got so far from home.
"We were calling those tips in yesterday but it sounds like Norfolk was already on the case anyway in that respect, they were already heading that way," Davis said. “When I saw that I was like, ‘Wow, Arizona.’ And then I thought to myself… The biggest thing I thought to myself was: a child this young being able to get that far in such a short amount of time.”
Norfolk police investigators say officers found Kadence with help from the FBI’s office in Norfolk and police officers in Tolleson, Arizona.
A spokeswoman for FBI Norfolk said in an e-mail: “When a child is reported missing the FBI offers resources to the investigation and deploys special agents specifically trained and experienced in missing children matters…”
The FBI Norfolk spokeswoman said her team “worked side by side” with Norfolk and Tolleson police to help locate and recover Kadence.
“We’re just glad that they found her. We’re elated," Davis said." It’s literally what I would call the Super Bowl of search and rescue: you find somebody and they’re alive and well.”
Disappearing was unlike Kadence, according to multiple family members 13News Now spoke with.
For the next 12 days, police and community members searched for her.
On August 15, the Norfolk Police Department tweeted that she had been located safely in Arizona, with the help of the FBI and a police agency in Tolleston, Arizona.
Tolleston is a suburb of Phoenix.
This is a developing story.