A Utah family is mobilizing to find a missing teen whose disappearance may be linked to someone she met online.
The family of 16-year-old Indica Huddleston is distributing hundreds of fliers with the teen's picture this week. They have also hired their own team of private investigators to help garner leads. Huddleston has been missing for a week.
UPDATE: KSL reports Huddleston has been found. Original story continues below.
The teen had been living in Apline with her family when she disappeared after an argument with her parents on Aug. 16.
"Her parents thought that had blown over. She acted quite nice the rest of the day, but she was still upset," Huddleston family spokesperson Tessa White told The Huffington Post.
"She went with her friends and asked them to drop her off at a gas station in town, which they did. She was never heard from again," White said.
The teen's parents found a note that said, "I'm fine; I'm being taken care of." The note also stated she would not return home until she turned 18, police said.
Huddleston's parents fear their daughter may have been groomed and lured away by someone she met on the Internet.
"They subsequently have done some work on her cellphone and are continuing to do work on her Facebook profile. They have found that she has been in contact with several older men that they don't know. There appears to be some conversations the parents are not comfortable with that was occurring. That gives them great cause for concern," White said.
"The working theory is that she may have run off with somebody or had somebody pick her up that she trusted, that may or may not be who he said he was, or someone that had ill intent."
The family has filed a report with the Lone Peak Police Department. Investigators there have classified the case a runaway. However, that may soon change.
"The fact that she ... hasn't contacted anybody, you know, relatives or friends that we are aware of ... we are looking at maybe elevating this more from a runaway to a missing child," detective Dave Ventrano told Deseret News.
According to White, Huddleston has never run away before.
"It's very out of character. She is very active in her local church group. She is very outgoing, fun, well-adjusted and kind," she said.
Photos: (Story Continues Below)
Indica Huddleston Missing
Indica Huddleston is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall and 130 pounds. She has long, dark brown hair and olive skin. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lone Peak Police Department at 801-756-9800.
The family has created the "Help Find Indica Huddleston" Facebook page to help raise awareness about her disappearance.
"[This case is] far more complex than just a runaway, because of what they have learned since then on her Facebook and cell phone," White said. "It does appear there is some foul play involved, because it is so uncharacteristic for this girl to do something like this."
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