A Kentucky teenager who had been missing for more than two months was found Friday in Maryland, according to a statement released Saturday by the Montgomery County Department of Police. Authorities say a suspect has been arrested in connection with her disappearance.
What to know
Thirteen-year-old Wynter Wagoner was last seen on October 14 in Rockcastle County, Kentucky.
After receiving a tip on the evening of December 26, Montgomery County Police and deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service went to a home in Silver Spring, Maryland, where they found Wagoner along with 37-year-old Christian Alexander Delgado, police said.
A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department told Newsweek on Sunday that “there was no familial relationship between the two.”
Wagoner was taken to a hospital for evaluation, and Delgado was taken into custody, according to police. He is being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit while awaiting extradition to Kentucky. The Rockcastle County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky obtained an arrest warrant charging Delgado with kidnapping.
Silver Spring is more than 550 miles from Rockcastle County.
The Rockcastle County Sheriff’s Office had shared Wagoner’s photo and description on Facebook on October 15. The family also offered a $5,000 reward for information, according to WTOP News.
In 2024, the FBI’s National Crime Information Center recorded 349,557 missing youths in the United States.
What people are saying
Dustin Wagoner, Wynter Wagoner’s father, told LEX 18 after she was located:
“Wynter has been found. She is safe and that’s about all the information we can give at this time. It’s very, very new – it just happened so the details are not clear at the moment. I don’t want to give any misinformation (and) I hope you understand…I do also want to say thank you for all the efforts in trying to find my daughter and all the prayers for her safety. We do truly appreciate it and are so thankful she’s okay.”
Wagoner’s family said in a statement to WUSA-TV:
“We are incredibly grateful that [she] has been found safe. These past weeks have been unimaginably painful for our family, and we are thankful beyond words to law enforcement in Kentucky and Maryland, the U.S. Marshals, and everyone who shared [her] story and kept her name alive.”
What happens next
Police say the investigation is ongoing, and the individuals involved are expected to be brought back to Kentucky.
