Abigail Hernandez, missing N.H. teen, returns home: a nine-month mystery

Abigail Hernandez returned on Sunday to her home in northern New Hampshire nine months after her disappearance. Investigators are seeking information from anyone who saw her between 10 and 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.

|
Jim Cole/AP
A sign that had been posted on the storefront window of the Naked Bohemian boutique is seen Tuesday, July 22, 2014, in Conway, N.H. The sign has been updated to say that Abigail Hernandez has been found.

In October 2013, when 14-year-old Abigail Hernandez disappeared from the small mountain town of Conway, N.H., an intense search by civilians, police, and federal authorities ensued.

One concerned resident posted fliers of the missing girl up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Many others volunteered to scour the surrounding forests. The local paper, The Conway Daily Sun, kept a running count of the days since her disappearance.

But months later, despite the efforts of friends, neighbors, and townspeople, the mystery of Abigail remained just that – a mystery.

That was until she abruptly showed up at her front door in Conway on Sunday night, a return that has raised almost as many questions in New Hampshire as did her mysterious disappearance.

While residents are overjoyed that she’s returned, they’re also curious about her whereabouts over the past nine months – information that officials don’t yet have. Or at least they’re not admitting to it.

“The long and short of it is, quite honestly, we are just happy that she’s home safe and sound right now,” said Kieran Ramsey, an FBI special agent in charge, on Monday.

The only contact that authorities had with Abigail since October was a letter she sent to her mother two weeks after leaving. Though the letter was not released, officials said they feared that she had run away with another person – and that she might have become a victim of sexual exploitation.

Nine months later, "might" remains the operative word.

On Tuesday, investigators said they were seeking information from anyone who saw Abigail between 10 and 10:30 p.m. on Sunday wearing a sweater and colorful leggings, according to The Boston Globe. Those were the same clothes she was wearing when she disappeared.

“At the time of her disappearance, Abigail was 14 years old and had no known means to facilitate her disappearance or provide herself with shelter, meals, or other necessities over the ensuing nine months,” said a statement released by prosecutors, Conway police, and New Hampshire State Police. “Should the investigation reveal evidence that a person or persons were involved with Abigail’s disappearance and/or detainment or concealment, then the appropriate criminal charges will be brought.”

Whatever transpired during Abigail’s absence, residents of Conway are ecstatic that she has returned safely, according to reports from the area.

“Everyone I know is saying: Thank God she’s home,” Chrisann Acone Cardillo, a Conway resident, told the Globe. “We’re staying positive and hoping she’s OK and waiting to hear something.”

A website dedicated to the search expressed elation for her return and noted a request by Abigail's family for privacy for the time being:

Abby is safely home with her mom and sister!! Family requests privacy right now. Thank you to everyone who has shared fliers, offered help and support. We cant thank you enough!! We will keep you all updated. THANK YOU!!!

Still, some say they deserve the truth after months of searching and constant anxiety. Others say it would bring closure to a stressful episode in the town’s history.

“I want answers,” Jameson Proko of Conway, who kept the business card of an investigating FBI agent in his wallet since the disappearance, told The Associated Press. “The truth often clarifies a lot of things. And prevents rumors.”

 This report includes material from The Associated Press.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Abigail Hernandez, missing N.H. teen, returns home: a nine-month mystery
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2014/0723/Abigail-Hernandez-missing-N.H.-teen-returns-home-a-nine-month-mystery
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe