EL MIRAGE, Ariz. — An El Mirage teen was found safe after being reported missing last month, the city's police department said.
Emily Lane's home surveillance cameras caught her daughter, Alexis "Brooke" Calderon, leaving the home near El Mirage and Greenway roads around 1 a.m. on June 22 with nothing but the clothes on her back.
It had been 10 days since Lane said her 14-year-old daughter snuck out of the house in the middle of the night and never returned.
“I’m literally living a parent’s worst nightmare," Lane said. “I was upset. I was sad because she didn’t even look back.”
According to police she was found safe Wednesday and will be reunited with her mother.
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The only explanation was a note, but Lane said that didn't tell her where Calderon was going or when she would return.
“The unknown is what’s driving me crazy," Calderon said.
Lane told 12News she believes her daughter left home to be with a man she met online. She said she took her daughter's phone away after finding dozens of messages between her daughter and the man on social media.
“It was a flirtatious romantic way, like 'I’m going to buy you gifts, I’m going to spoil you and I’m going to give you everything your mom and dad won’t'," Lane said.
El Mirage Police Department confirmed they were investigating this case as a runaway teen.
“We’re moving very quickly now based on new information we just got (Monday)," Lt. Tim Mason, the El Mirage Police public information officer, said. “We have what we call an alert out in our database... If she’s contacted by any law enforcement officer anywhere in the country, that officer will be alerted that it’s a runaway juvenile.”
Calderon has long brown hair and blue/green eyes. She has a heart tattoo on her arm and a nose piercing.
She was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, cargo pants and Crocs shoes.
“I’m hoping that the more her picture gets out there, the more people see her, the more noticed she becomes," Lane said.
Lane said all she wants is for her daughter to return home safely.
“I will hug her and love her and just be happy that she’s home," Lane said.
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