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Kristin Murphy / AP
The disappearance of 13-year-old Brooklyn Gittins prompted a massive search.
A 13-year-old girl whose disappearance this week without shoes or a coat in the chilly Salt Lake City area caused widespread concern was found unharmed, police said early Friday.
Brooklyn Gittins telephoned her grandmother late Thursday night from a Wal-Mart store in South Jordan, Unified Police spokesman Lt. Justin Hoyal said. The woman then contacted police and officers located the child.
"Brooklyn was not injured and is fine," Hoyal said. "She was still wearing the grey T-shirt and black pajama pants. She did not have on shoes, a coat."
Hoyal said authorities suspect that she was harbored by someone and police are trying to find out who.
She disappeared Tuesday evening wearing only pajamas and shirt. A major snowstorm Thursday prompted some 1,000 volunteers to join police in searching 17 square miles in the area near Gittins' home in Herriman, a Salt Lake City suburb about 18 miles southwest of downtown.
A key concern had been the frigid winter weather. "Investigators believed she could have been a victim of the elements; it's been extremely cold," he said.
The storm was expected to dump as much as 7 inches of snow and bring freezing temperatures.
Police have been interviewing the child, trying to determine where she was.
There were no signs of forced entry at the Herriman home where Brooklyn was last seen at bedtime Tuesday.
"We believe she left her home through her bedroom window and was picked up and harbored by a person or persons," Hoyal told The Associated Press in an interview.
Indiana boy abducted in 1994 found in Minnesota
Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said Thursday before she was found that the circumstances surrounding the case concerned authorities, especially because it appeared her departure was unplanned.
Gittins' grandfather Craig Hiller made a plea at the news conference that for her to come back. He said she's a typical teenage girl who is very outgoing in some cases and very subdued in others.
The first time she ran away, she came back a short while later, Hiller said.
"This was a successful investigation and we appreciate all the efforts by the community, public safety personnel, and the media in response to Brooklyn's disappearance," Hoyal said.
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Nice to hear some good news now and then.
Indeed, this is rare to hear that a missing child is found unharmed. I'm sure her parents are ecstatic!
Good ending, but perhaps if she left willingly (second time runaway) she could put in some community service hours to make a dent in the financial cost of searching for her?
Maybe the authorities should check out her family situation. What was she running from? Living with her grandparents may not be a good environment.
Good idea Rontron, however, not all kids run away because of a bad homelife. My younger sister would run away all the time just because she wanted the attention. Whatever the situation, authorities need to find out what happened. If she left willingly and on her own then maybe she should do community service or something like tempusfugit suggested. Otherwise, she may continue to run away looking for that same attention.
It is good news that she is unharmed, but there is nothing good about a repeat teen girl run-away. She either needs to settle down or just get out. It is terrible to live with the constant worry that the teen will "go off" over the next thing she doesn't like...
......problems in the home somewhere.
There should be some type of further investigation, either police or CPS to determine cause. If she is running away (if this is the case) due to a problem in the home, then this needs to be determined. If she is running away for attention, then she needs to be held accountable. Resources were used in helping to locate her when they could have been better used to locate children that have actually gone missing through no fault of their own. And if she were abducted and then released, I hope the kidnapper(s) is/are caught.
I absolutely agree that community service should be required, but not just for the kid - for her guardians too. Clearly they arent doing such a great job raising her.
Hilarious how at the end of the story is one line...
The first time she ran away, she came back a short while later, Hiller said.
My thought as well. This time she ran away and stayed out all night. Talk to her boyfriend or girlfriend.
Glad she's safe, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda...
Gee Bluelake such overwhelming sensitivity, I'm near tears. /s
Since nobody died or was injured, I think it is not beyond decency to make light of a situation that, to teenagers, is almost as common as acne.
PS to cgtrav: If you want to make a sarcastic comment ( I love good sarcasm ) just do it!! You do not need to tell everybody that hey, look, I'm being sarcastic. The people that don't get your sarcasm don't matter.
Well, cgtrav - being that we hear so many abduction stories, to read of this and then see that at the end, it points to not an abduction, but a teenager running away multiple times.
People are much more sensitive to abduction stories than stories of a multiple runaway.
Which is sad, because teens run away much more often than they are abducted, and are just as likely to come to harm from the former. Why she's running away is as important as where she was/who she was with. Tho of course it doesn't have to anything sinister, she's only 13, many reasons would seem good enough to her at that age.
I'm more inclined to think that she didn't run away. As a former frequent teen runaway, I would have never left with no shoes or coat, especially in the winter and snowing. Then to show up at a walmart a couple days later still missing a coat and shoes... doesn't add up to me. If she was with someone she knew, even a friend or boyfirend, wouldn't they care enough about her to dress her more appropriatly before dropping her off at a walmart? I think there may be more to this story as it unfolds. Either way, as a mother, I'm happy to hear this one story has a happy ending.
You should be a detective ... your deduction sounds right.
While I understand that Capt Tripps (nice name by the way), the victim of abduction is a victim from the beginning while the runaway choose to runaway and any harm that happens after that (while horrible), is harm's way they put themself in...at least that's how I see it.
I do agree the "why" is something to look into to determine if there are at-home issues.
Shalina - seriously? You think she was abducted and then just released unharmed wearing exactly the same clothes? That may have happened back in the day, but in today's age of video surviellance and instant news, that just doesn't see reasonable or rational.
Runaway child, running wild.
Great news. The parents can rest in peace now that she is home.
Now, they need to get to the bottom of this story. Was the girl abducted, did she go out with a friend, etc. etc.
It says she has snuck out before - sounds like she needs some therapy if they punished her for that escapade and she did it again.
Well, not only punish her, but bill her family for the extra police/whatever hours put in 'searching' for her and check out if her living situation is suitable.
Why would you bill the family? Pretty sure the police are tasked with looking for runaways and abductees.
The searchers were volunteers.
Well, from the story, it said volunteers joined police in searching 17 square miles...so, the police were involved in the search and if there were OT hours, that's even more expensive. Do you really think the searchers were just volunteers and the police were like, yeah, we're not going to do anything, we'll be in the donut shop while you search? Really?
I guess I say that because searching for this selfish girl could have taken away from other policework.
I'd also be willing to bet that if the 1,000 volunteers knew she had a history of running away, there wouldn't have been 1,000 of them.
Sounds to me like she snuck out for a little hanky panky. Aha.
You're probably spot on, Mr. Binkie. My friends 13-year-old daughter did this several times - the baby was named "Michele" and, of course, grandma's child rearing days became greatly extended.
She was harbored? Yet, this "rescuer" couldn't find her some shoes and a coat? I think the initial assessment of "unharmed" bears investigating further.
Dan, she will have been examined by a doctor by now. The harbouring was likely by one of her child friends. Get your mind out of the gutter.
So Peridot, let me make sure I am clear on this - according to your theory, the 13-year-old girl was perhaps harbored by some other, say 13 - 17-year old "child?" Assuming this theory is accurate, would you care to speculate on just where the parents of this "child" who harbored her might have been? It may be possible, but I haven't heard lately of any "children" living alone with absolutely no adults to look after them. I cannot imagine that any parent would allow their son/daughter to offer another child a place to hideout while her parents, the police, and the entire community is searching for her. The fact that she was returned with no shoes/coat makes your theory even more farfetched. Even an less-than-responsible person would have given the girl something to protect herself from the elements.
*********IT IS MORE PLAUSIBLE TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF ALIEN ABDUCTION!***********
valmac - you never snuk someone into your room through your window after hours?
ahhhh...the memories of a misspent youth
It's much more farfetched in this day and age to think someone was abducted, kept for any amount of time and then dropped somewhere with cameras unharmed...I would think if it would have been an abduction, there'd be some mention of that and some description of car/person to be on the lookout for.
Peridot, let me make sure I am clear on this - according to your theory, the 13-year-old girl was perhaps harbored by some other say, 13 - 17-year-old "child," right? Would you care to speculate as to just where this "child harborer's" parents may have been? I may be wrong on this, but I haven't heard recently about any children living completely alone with absolutely NO adults to look after them. With that said, it does not seem plausible to me that any parent would allow their son or daughter to offer an underage child (who is being sought by her parents, the police, and an entire community) a place to hideout. Even a parent/guardian who is deficient or substandard in morals would be aware of the consequences this would bring upon them, if found out. The fact that the girl turned up two days later still wearing no shoes or coat makes your theory all the more doubtful because even a careless adult would give the girl something to protect herself from the elements.
Peridot, the possibility of an ALIEN ABDUCTION would be more conceivable.
valmac, there is also the possibility that she was with someone who's parents were away on vacation or something like that...think bigger picture here, there are many possibilities.
Sleepinsadie, supposing I did sneak someone in my window as a teenager, I certainly would not have been stupid enough to believe that I could hide this person in my room for 2 days without anyone seeing/hearing anything. That would have been farfetched!
Apparently, you didn't read my comment closely enough as I did not say that I thought a person abducted her. What I did say was that the possibility of an alien abduction would be more conceivable than Peridot's version of what may have happened. I find it hard to believe that no one would have heard or seen the girl if she had been hiding out at a friend's home.
Oh, and just so you know, I don't think that aliens drive around in cars. Therefore, it would be quite difficult to jot down their license plate number and turn it into the police. And if that did happen, there's little doubt that the police would actually report this to the public.
And the plotlines abound here at the annual mystery writers' convention . . .
valmac - I'd bet against you on the alien abduction vs. friend harboring thing...could be parents on vacation, could be just staying there at night and going out during the day partying or something.
It's not that "no one" may have seen the girl, it's that maybe she was just with friends - hell, one could have parents gone, parents that work at night, whatever.
Plus, it could have been easy for her to hide in plain sight if she had a friend's big jacket, beanie, scarf, covered her face, etc...as people probably weren't lookin for a girl just sittin in a coffee shop or something.
This one just doesn't smell like stranger abduction or the like, much more like a runaway hiding out.
I once hid a runaway friend in my closet for two days when I was a teenager. And we didn't even have a very large house. It can be done!
This kid better get a nice beating by the parents. A 13 year old running away twice already??? She isn't even in high school yet...
I'm sure that would convince her never to leave home again...what is wrong with people. If you haven't stopped hitting your kid by 13, you're clearly doing something wrong, and only making it worse.
Chris, I don't think the parents are even involved in her life. Note that the article only mentions her grandparents....which may give a clue as to why she ran away, not a happy home situation. So many grandparents in this country are caring for grandkids whose parents are junkies or have mental health issues or are incarcerated.....or just schmucks.
A beating? Chris, #1, that's physical abuse. It's illegal in every state in the US, not to mention it's ineffective in managing child and teenage behaviour.
I sounds like a little discipline needs to be applied to someone's backside. Since this is not the 'first time' she has disappeared.
Fantastic idea! Way to make her want to stay home!
A typically selfish teenager who cannot see beyond the end of her nose. She thinks nothing of going out a window in the winter without shoes or a coat, because whomever she was going with is just so IMPORTANT! I hope she outgrows her stupidity very soon and realizes how much of a pain in the @$$ she is to her family. Law enforcement, neighbors, friends and family all searching for her and fearing the worst while hoping for the best and she doesn't call for two days.
You all can see where I am going. Please hurry through your "drama queen" years so that you don't stress your family into early graves...
if she did this to spite her family then you are right shame on her. But if this is indicative of some other problem ie (escaping abuse, mental issues) then she needs therapy ASAP. It doesn't make sense why someone would "harbor" her. But anyway stranger things have happened.
Why hurry them, it's a valid part of growing up. Do we all turn a certain age and immediately forget and dismiss what it was like to be a tween? Maybe ya'll were perfect and had perfect friends, I dunno, but I was an annoying lil @!$%# for about 4 years, and I imagine my own kids to follow suit. I hope I have as much patience for mine as my mother did for me.
I had no such teen angst years, but I am not a female. These issues seem worse in girls than in boys.
No one is in their right mind from age 10 to 25 (during puberty). The prefontal cortex of the human brain is developing and maturing. Puberty is especially difficult for children who have no parents.
This child is being raised by her grandparents. Her path is many times more difficult because she doesn't have a mother and father to guide her through the rocks.
Some young people don't even survive their puberty. They die of drug overdoses, alcohol poisoning, in car accidents and in fights. The reason is they have hormone-soaked brains telling them that they're immortal and impervious to harm.
As a guy NB820 - I'm thinking you should maybe ask your parents about that. I saw no appreciable difference between us and the ladies when it came to teen angst. Most of it seems born from thinking we knew more than we did.
My GOD. You people BLAMING her have NO IDEA what's going on inside that house. Maybe she's being sexually/emotionally/physically abused. But, according to you, she's a brat who should just stay there and take it -- quit causing the community so much trouble. All b/c she's a teenager?
You people make me sick. You have NO IDEA why she's running away. Let's FIRST find out WHY she's running away before you (the UNKNOWING Judge and Jury) send a 13 year old girl to prison for upsetting adults. How PATHETIC you all are.
You may be right... however you may be wrong too. If something horrible was happening why would she call the same people she left? I hope in any case that she is well and they get to the bottom of it..
However being the parent of a teenager their little worlds seem so much worse to them than they are.. If someone doesn't like them.. or if if they have a break up.. See something they do not like on facebook.. A tweet gone bad..Especially girls.
Maybe she has an older boyfriend she want to "runaway" with in love you know as little as the rest of us..
She left the home voluntarily. she called her grandmother two days later. If she is being abused, couldn't she tell grandmom or a teacher or her doctor or....do you see where I am going? Without the victim speaking up, abuse is rarely found out. Since she has yet to make such accusations, we only know for a fact that she is a repeat runaway...
That utah girl is affraid to tell the truth.
This little girl has some splaining to do....
The first time she ran away, she came back a short while later, Hiller said.
So... Not missing (as in not abducted) but a runaway who snuck out of her house (not for the first time) and wasn't even intelligent enough to have shoes and a jacket? In Utah? I lived in Ogden for two winters. Let me tell you, you do not go out in the middle of winter there without proper clothing. It's freakin freezing. This girl needs a good ass whoopin! OR... when it happens again... Just have the police lock her up in juvy for a few days. If that don't set her straight, then next time throw her in a halfway house for runaways. She sounds much like my older sister. Selfish! She only cares about herself and does not give one rats ass how her actions affect those around her. B***H!!!
She snuck out to bang her boyfriend/girlfriend. Plain and simple.
Now that she is found safe and sound. She needs a good ole fashioned whippin' for scaring her parents and everyone else involved.... She obviously doesn't know right from wrong.
Successful investigation my ass, the police didn't find her, the girl called her grandmother from Walmart and the grandmother called the police. Glad the girl is safe.
No tracks in the snow? No phone calls? She has run away before? Sounds to me like she has a little boy-friend that is making her come back for her needs. 13 years old is a very dangerous, hormone filled part of a girls life and she MAY be getting some special treatment from a neighborhood boy/girl. If it continues, professional help may be necessary. Then a good grounding and stern talking to is in line. Physical violence will make her leave more.
Did they mention this child's mental capacity and I overlooked it? Sadly, she sounds troubled. There is always some underlying problem when a child runs away repeatedly. She put herself in real danger. She was gone for two days in snowy weather without winter gear and she is alive. She was obviously with somebody! There are so many bells, whistles, alarms and flags flying. It sounds like an inappropriate relationship that her grandparents would not approve. Otherwise, that person would have brought her home instead of ditching her at Wal-Mart to call grandma. It sounds like she is protecting someone. Somebody needs to take a closer look at this young girl and figure it out before she disappears and doesn't come back alive.
All Walmarts have surveillance cameras and the police may get some information from those as to who may have dropped her off, or how she wound up at Walmart.
If a runaway I give Brooklyn the Bronx's cheer.
Ok, who would name their daughter after a NYC borough? No wonder the kid has ran away more than once, she has a stupid family. I have dealt with emotional support kids, you would not believe how many of them have ridiculous names.
And despite my comment, I am glad she is safe.
Perhaps her father Staten and her mother Queenie?
john -
Good one!
She'll be back in the news in 9 months. Hope not, but that's what they do.
She hooked up with an older dude, and of course she's a teenager so she thinks right now that she can do what she wants, especially living with her grandparents. They need to keep a tight leash on her. And please find out who she was staying with. Cuz next time might not be a good outcome. I hope this does not happen again.
Great news! Too many of these missing person cases end badly. Glad to hear she was found safe and unharmed.
It was alians that got her.
Unharmed is hard to believe. I'm not saying she was raped but I don't feel she is telling the total truth. I thank God she is safe and home.
I think they need to a VERY CLOSE look at mom's new fiance/boyfriend.... No shoes, coat, cell phone, glasses?....... PULEEZ! we are in the middle of a record breaking cold spell here in UT.... and almost blizzard conditons last night.............. something is definitely fishy...........
Thank God he was found. It is indeed a rare case. It reminds me to not give up HOPE no matter what. Also, is a good reminder for me that family needs to be respectful of each other and stay with in boundaries. Grandparents input is good and imprtant, they do have alot of wisdom, that they raised there children. They are there to support the parents and the child(ren) but the ultimate decisions for the parents is the parents to decide. Now of course if the child is in harm, I can see removing the child from the home, however, the authorities are in our society for a reason. They are there and must be contacted whether I agree w them or not, its the LAW. In this case, the child was lucky it was his grandparents and I thnk God he was found. He has a chance to be reunited w the rest of his family. I wonder if he will or not?
Hey, Tom - it was a GIRL! Reading comprehension is so important.
(Tom's comment addresses the other child abduction story on nbcnews.com today.)