With the help of a friend, 17-year-old Megan Lea Morgan was found at a house in Athens after a 14-hour search.
Morgan, a Hocking College freshman from Albany, was reported missing by Hocking College police Tuesday night. By 11 a.m. Wednesday, police were aware of her location.
One of Morgan’s friends who lives in Athens heard Morgan was missing through news stories and public service announcements published Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, said Al Matthews, Hocking College police chief.
The friend, who was not identified, called the Hocking College police around 11 a.m. Wednesday and said Morgan wanted to speak directly to police officers, Matthews said.
“We talked face-to-face just before noon. She was safe and secure,” he said. “She seemed OK. She had some issues that she needs to talk to someone about.”
Matthews also said the police department is no longer involved in the case and that Meigs County Children Services is now working with Morgan and investigating why she left abruptly.
Counselors from Meigs County Children Services declined to comment.
“She could have been (a harm to herself and others); that’s always a possibility, but we’re lucky she wasn’t abducted,” Matthews said.
Matthews did not say why Morgan left.
“This is probably only the second missing person since I’ve been chief for almost two years,” Matthews said Wednesday morning before Morgan was found. “We hope the public helps us out. We just hope we get a lead.”
When that lead came, Matthews said he felt the work the department put into finding Morgan was worth the time. He said he had three officers working the case Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
“Everyone was concerned for her safety and her whereabouts,” he said. “No one thought this would end any other way than finding her and getting her wherever she needed to go.”
jj360410@ohiou.edu
