Updated

A woman who as a baby disappeared in Arizona nearly 24 years ago was found alive in Connecticut last year, according to reports.

A positive match allowed authorities to piece together the difficult past of Aleacia Stancil. She was raised by a single mother, Toni Stancil, who worked in the Air Force before turning to drugs and prostitution, KTVK-TV of Phoenix reported.

In December 1994, when Stancil was 9 months old, Toni gave her to a friend so she could “clear her head.” The girl was passed around to several people before ending up in police custody.

When her mother returned a few days later, the child was missing. Toni landed in jail shortly afterward, but didn’t report her daughter missing until March 1995.

But later that year, Toni was murdered, leaving authorities with no witness to link to Stancil’s identity.

“Without that one and only witness, I’m very limited in how to proceed with the investigation,” a Phoenix police detective told KTVK.

Stancil showed up “disoriented” at a Connecticut hospital in 2014, unable to identify herself. A nurse found Stancil suspicious and discovered an age progression photo of her after searching online for missing people. Police were notified and Stancil underwent DNA testing.

Three years later, she was a confirmed match.

Stancil had since been adopted by another family and assumed a different name. Her grandmother, who lives in Georgia, said Stancil wishes to stay out of the spotlight.