Missing St. Charles Girl Now Home Safe (UPDATED)

UPDATE (10:33 a.m. Tuesday, July 28): Emily Czajkowski was found by St. Charles police at about 7:45 a.m. Tuesday at a friend’s house, according to a police press release.

The mother of Emily’s friend called police when she found Emily at home with her son, the release stated. Police determined Emily wasn’t a victim of any criminal acts and consider the matter to be a private one now, the release added.

ORIGINAL STORY

The missing 14-year-old girl from St. Charles has been found, according to a post from her mother on Facebook Tuesday morning.

“Emily is home safe thanks to our community and amazing police force. Thank you every single person who prayed/shared her picture/ passed out flyers etc from the bottom of our hearts.”

~ Rebecca Czajkowski via Facebook

Emily Czajkowski was last seen after she was dropped off for a dance class at Pottawatomie Community Center at about 6:35 p.m. on July 22. She never attended the class and was seen on video surveillance leaving the building while talking on her cell phone, according to a St. Charles Police Department press release.

Soon after, she posted a message to friends on a social media site that said she intended to hurt herself by unknown means, according to the news release. That message was quickly deleted.

Community members searched the Fox Valley over the weekend, looking in parks and business areas as they tied ribbons to trees in honor of the family.

A GoFundMe page was set up to cover expenses for the family. As of Tuesday, $1,300 had been raised.