NORTH CONWAY, N.H. – The mother of a 15-year-old New Hampshire girl reunited with her family nine months after she vanished says rumors that she was pregnant aren’t true.

Investigators have been trying to find out how and why Abigail Hernandez of North Conway disappeared after leaving her high school on Oct. 9 and who may have helped conceal her. She returned home July 20.

Zenya Hernandez tells NBC’s “Today” that many people think her daughter was pregnant, but she was not. She also says she believes Abby did not run away and didn’t know the man believed to have driven off with her. Police released a sketch of him based on Abby’s description.

Abby issued a statement thanking people who searched for her and saying she believes their hopes and prayers “played a major role in my release.”

Her mother said when Abby returned home, she was thin and pale and had “a look in her eyes I’ve never, ever seen before. And that’s something that’s haunting me, and I think will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Attorney General Joseph Foster said Abigail was 14 when she disappeared and apparently had no way to get about or secure food, shelter or other necessities on her own.

Townspeople who searched and prayed that she would return are relieved, but also are looking for answers about where she’s been and how she got home.

“I feel like they just ripped something out of our souls,” Zenya Hernandez said. “And just as I swore that I’ll find her, I’ll find the person, I’ll find out what happened.”

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