Missing North Port, Florida, teen found as Laundrie manhunt continues
16-year-old contacted family Thursday evening
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The North Port Police Department in Florida announced Friday that missing teenager Desirae Malava-Ortiz had been located.
Authorities reported the 16-year-old missing on Thursday evening after she left her home on Roxbury Circle earlier this week by "unknown means of travel."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Desirae has been located safe and sound and rejoining her family," the police department tweeted Friday afternoon.
Desire Malava-Ortiz (Credit: North Port Police Department) (North Port Police Department)
North Port PD Public Information Officer Josh Taylor told Fox News that Malava-Ortiz "contacted her family" on Thursday evening and "was reunited" with them on Friday afternoon.
The alert comes nearly a month after 22-year-old Gabby Petito's family reported her missing on Sept. 11 when she did not return to her North Port home with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. Her remains were later found in Wyoming. Laundrie, a fugitive, returned to North Port on Sept. 1 in Petito's van without her after the two embarked on a cross-country road trip over the summer.
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North Port Police are still trying to track down Laundrie after he was reported missing Sept. 17. His family reported last seeing him Sept. 13.