Kayleigh Beasley had been missing since Feb. 19. Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook
BRUNSWICK — Police found 14-year-old Kayleigh Beasley of Bowdoinham on Tuesday, 11 days after she went missing from a Walmart in Brunswick.
Beasley was found at an apartment on Water Street near downtown Brunswick at around 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to Sagadahoc County Chief Deputy Brett Strout. Police say Beasley is in good health.
Strout said police found Beasley through a tip on social media.
While Beasley was found safe, Strout said police were trying to piece together what happened since Beasley was last seen four miles away in the Cook’s Corner area of Brunswick on Feb. 19.
Strout said the sheriff’s office hasn’t determined if anyone will face charges in connection with Beasley’s disappearance.
Police in a statement said Beasley has been reunited with a parent, but offered no further details.
Shortly after 4 p.m., Strout said police were with Beasley and her family and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services at the sheriff’s office in Bath.
“It’s adrenaline, it’s everything right now,” said Britney Bodinet, Beasley’s mother, regarding the mixed emotions she felt. She was still waiting at the sheriff’s office to see Beasley Tuesday afternoon.
Bodinet said Monday that Beasley was with her biological father’s girlfriend the day she went missing. Bodinet said the two had gone to Walmart in Brunswick on Feb. 19.
According to the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, Beasley walked away from the Walmart near Cook’s Corner around 5:30 p.m. that day. Security footage shows Beasley walking in the parking lot of a nearby McDonald’s that day where the sheriff’s office believed she may have got into a vehicle.
“It’s a relief for everyone involved and even for people in the community that worry about it as well,” Strout said.
The sheriff’s office posted images of Beasley on its Facebook page on Feb. 22 and again on Feb. 26 asking for the public’s help in finding her, which attracted tips and media attention as well.
“I think the press definitely helped; and the social media postings,” Strout said. “It kept people interested and we kept getting leads that we could check. Obviously, not all of them were good but you don’t know unless you look.”
“It’s a sense of relief,” Bodinet said. “I think once I see her, it will be a bigger relief. … There’s 100 things going through my head right now.”
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