Urbana girl found unharmed, may have run away


May 21, 2003
BY ANA MENDIETA Staff Reporter



The 14-year-old missing girl from Urbana who was the subject of a nationwide search and a statewide Amber Alert was found unharmed in Chicago on Tuesday, and it appears she was a runaway, authorities said. Tyeeste Jones was found Tuesday at 4 p.m., unharmed in a house on the 2000 block of North Avers on Chicago's Northwest side, in the company of an unidentified 42-year-old man who was being questioned by federal agents Tuesday evening, said Chicago's FBI spokesman Ross Rice.

It is unclear how the girl arrived in Chicago and why, Rice said. But Urbana police said it appears that she left Urbana willingly with the man she was found with.

"At this point, I don't believe she was dragged away kicking and screaming. But as I have told other people, in this day and age 14-year-olds have different ways to develop a relationship with people they don't know," said Urbana Police Lt. Mike Metzler. "I suspect what we will find is that she may have gotten in this car willingly, but she may have not known exactly what she was getting herself into."

Metzler said Urbana police and the FBI are investigating how Tyeeste became acquainted with the man with whom she left Urbana.

As of Tuesday evening, no charges had been filed against that man and arrangements were being made to return the girl to Urbana, Rice said.

''I'm just so overjoyed she's found, she's safe, she's coming home to me tonight,'' Linda Hines, Tyeeste's mother, told the Associated Press.

Hines has cooperated with the investigation since her daughter disappeared May 18, Metzler said. The girl was last seen in her home Sunday afternoon after going out to empty the trash. A statewide Amber Alert was issued by Illinois State Police about three hours later.

In the beginning, Urbana police believed the child was in danger of harm for such an alert to be issued. The teen had also recently reported that someone had attempted to abduct her, authorities said.

Tyeeste was located in the man's home Tuesday as a result of the information developed during the investigation, Metzler said Tuesday.

The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children has also been involved in the investigation, he added.