Second Department Searches For Missing Long Valley Teen: Police

LONG VALLEY, NJ — After a pleading Facebook post on early Thursday afternoon asking for the public’s help in looking for a missing 16-year-old girl, the Washington Township Police Department continues their search for her and provided an update late Friday afternoon.

The department said Friday the teen was a “repeated runaway” from a group home in the township, a situation they described as an "ongoing," with another unnamed law enforcement agency now involved in looking for her.

With the girl having left on her own, there was not an AMBER Alert issued, which is typically activated in abductions or when the life of a child could be endangered.

The only information police provided in their initial post on Thursday, outside of being from Fairmount/West Valley Brook section of town, was her first name - “Amanda” - and that she may have been wearing a white t-shirt and gray sweatpants.

A representative from the department told Patch in a follow-up call to the police department on Thursday the only information available to them was her first name and attire that she’d left the group home in.

On Friday, there was still no physical description of the girl given.

Police also didn’t disclose where they believe she’s headed next, but they did contact the undisclosed police department in her suspected destination.

“Her parents are also involved in the investigation,” the department wrote in its follow-up Facebook Post.

“We disseminated what we could and we thank everyone for keeping an eye out yesterday in the event she was seen walking from the home,” they also wrote.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.