A woman who was reported as missing after meeting a "new friend" to see a movie has been found safe, according to Florida police.
The Seminole County Sheriff's Office confirmed in an email sent to Newsweek that Ashley Peppard, who it described as disabled, had been located and is now safe.
Peppard was reported missing after she texted family that she was watching a movie with a new friend on May 26.
The Seminole County Sheriff's Office gave no further details about what happened to Peppard, who is in her late 20s.
According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS), there are 1,723 open missing persons cases in Florida and 2,070 resolved cases.
Across all states and territories, there are 23,241 open missing persons cases and 34,125 resolved missing person cases, it said.
NamUS said: "Between 2007 and 2020, an average of 664,776 missing person records annually were entered into the National Crime Information Center."
Anyone who wants to report a missing person in Florida is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency first.
Then call the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse (MEPIC) at (850) 410-8585 or toll-free at 1-888-FL-MISSING (356-4774).
Florida also has numerous missing persons criteria, which are AMBER alert, missing child alert, purple alert, and state silver alert.
An AMBER alert is issued if the following five criteria are met:
- The child is under the age of 18
- Law enforcement has a well-founded belief, based on an active investigation, that a kidnapping has occurred
- Law enforcement has a well-founded belief, based on an active investigation, that the child is in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury
- There is a detailed description of the child and or the abductor/vehicle to broadcast the public
- The law enforcement agency of jurisdiction recommends activation
A missing child alert is activated if the following four criteria are met:
- The child is under the age of 18
- Law enforcement has a well-founded belief, based on an active investigation, that the child is in danger of death or serious bodily injury
- There is a detailed description or photograph of the child to broadcast to the public
- The local law enforcement agency of jurisdiction recommends activation
A Purple alert is issued to assist in finding a missing adult suffering from a mental or cognitive disability that is not Alzheimer's disease or a dementia-related disorder.
Finally a Silver alert is used to locate missing persons suffering from an irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties.
Updated 06/05/2023, 10:05 a.m. EDT: This article was updated with additional context.
