14-year-old Charlotte girl found 5 months after disappearance

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 14-year-old Charlotte girl who disappeared five months ago was found in Georgia this week.

Nakia Williams was last seen on Sept. 7, 2017, after leaving her home on Wiegon Lane, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

[Mother of missing 14-year-old: 'We need all the help we can get']

Georgia law enforcement officials were able to confirm Wednesday that she was seen in Emanuel County, Georgia, and that she was possibly staying in Toombs County, Georgia, a neighboring county.

“And I thought I heard something wrong, and I was like, 'What did you say?' And she repeated, 'We found her,'” Shrounda Alston, Nakia’s cousin, said.

Nakia’s mother told Channel 9 that she was found that same day in Lyons, Georgia, which is more than 250 miles away from Charlotte.

“I was just able to wrap my arms around her, and just, we just cried for about five minutes,” Cherise Williams-Stowe, Nakia’s mother, told Channel 9. “We were just so happy to see each other.”

The family received the tip they have been praying for for months.

Family and friends did everything they to find Nakia, including handing out flyers and posting on a Facebook page called “Our missing hearts.”

Williams-Stowe told Channel 9 she still doesn't know the whole story of why Nakia disappeared and what happened in the past five months.

“She said she learned a lot while she was out,” Williams-Stowe said. “She learned it was hard trying to be out there on your own and everybody doesn't love you.”

Many of those questions are still being investigated, but Alston said the family can finally rest knowing Nakia is back home.

“And I had to keep the momentum going for her. I didn't want her to be forgotten,” Alston said.

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