Family Relieved Amy Waldrep Found Safely

The tears of joy in Gay Waldrep’s eyes were a welcome contrast to the tears she had cried the previous day and a half.

At 7:30 this evening Waldrep spoke to her daughter Amy by cell phone.

Amy, 20, had been reported missing on Wednesday morning along with her 10-month-old daughter Penelope Ann. In what was surely an emotional phone call, Amy told her mother she and Penelope Ann were OK.

After Waldrep was reported missing, Mauldin Police contacted authorities across multiple states. They were particularly concerned since Amy has Asperger’s Syndrome.

Eventually, police were able find her in Chesterfield County, Virginia, by tracking her cell phone.

When Amy did call her mother, it was at the only moment where the phone had not been at Gay’s side.

Managing a smile, Gay said,”I was out on the porch and the phone rang and I checked the voice mail and it was Amy.”

Gay admitted that in the last day she had feared the worst.

“I tried to maintain a positive attitude,” she said, while adding that she got practically no sleep on Wednesday night.

She said she was pulled through by the prayers of people she’d never met.

Gay said that she and her family received text messages and words of encouragement from churches throughout the Southeast.

“I am such a believer in the power of prayer,” she said. “It’s not the first time God has used his Almighty hand to spare us the worst. I can’t even begin to know how to thank all the people for their help.”

Modern technology helped too as Gay praised police for doing everything in their power to help find Amy.

“I curse technology sometimes, but today it really came through,” she said.

When she spoke to Amy, she learned that Amy had left a note for her that went unnoticed amid a stack of other papers on the refrigerator.

“Everyone who was here looked right past it when they opened the refrigerator door,” she said.

Mauldin police said no charges will be filed in the case, as Amy Waldrep left voluntarily.