A 13-year-old girl who had been missing for a month was reportedly found in an adult prison on Tuesday after she lied about her age and identity when she was arrested for theft.
The missing girl, whose identity has not been released due to her age, has been in custody since August 17 in the Beaver County Jail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after being arrested for stealing items from a Dollar General store, the Beaver County Times reported Wednesday.
Except that when she was arrested, the 13-year-old allegedly lied to police, claiming that her name was Mae Wilson and that she was 18, so she received a one-way ticket to prison.
However, she was the subject of a wanted poster shared by the Pittsburgh Police Special Victims Unit on August 6, which reported her disappearance four days earlier, according to local media.
An update to the notice reportedly indicated in mid-August that the teenager had been spotted in the Hill District, just 30 miles from where she went missing. However, no follow-up has been made since then.
At the same time, the girl reportedly eventually admitted her age to police, but indicated she was homeless to presumably avoid notifying her parents, Beaver County Prosecutor Nate Bible reported, according to the Beaver County Times.
It is unclear whether it was a fellow inmate or a prison employee who ultimately identified the girl as the missing teenager. Once her identity was confirmed, she was reportedly isolated from the larger prison population, the prosecutor said.
The American media reports that the girl’s parents were then contacted to come and pick her up from prison.
The teenager is reportedly facing charges of retail theft, resisting arrest and potentially providing false identification to police, all of which she is expected to answer in juvenile court this time.
