The Lexington County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 6 statement that Mackenzie Dalton was found safe. Investigators said they have “no reason to believe Dalton was ever held against her will or with someone she didn’t want to be with.”
Authorities arrested Mackenzie Keith English Jr., 18, in connection with the case. He was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to investigators about being with Dalton and knowing where she was.
Earlier report
Police in South Carolina had asked the public for help locating a teen who was reported missing in November.
Mackenzie Dalton, 16, had not been seen since she left her Lexington, S.C., home in late November, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Friday, Jan. 2.
Dalton is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 118 pounds. A photo shared by the sheriff’s department showed the teen with blonde hair with highlights.
Investigators had classified her as an “endangered juvenile runaway” after “the car she drove away in and the suitcase she took from home have been recovered,” the sheriff’s office said.
Officials did not say whether the suitcase still contained any belongings. At the time, authorities said they believed she was “traveling with a man she knows,” but they did not provide further details.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts was asked to contact authorities and could do so anonymously through the Crime Stoppers mobile app or by calling 888-274-6372.
