Missing Alabama teen found safe in Texas 16 months later

HIGHLAND HOME, Ala. — An Alabama teen who vanished without a trace two years ago after taking out the trash has been found.

Alissia Freeman, who was more than 1,000 miles away in El Paso, Texas, reached out to her mother, Vickie Metcalf, on a video call Monday after being out of contact with her family since she disappeared on Dec. 13, 2015. She was 17 at the time.

"Alissia told her parents she was going outside to take out the trash. A neighbor spotted her walking down the road, and then she vanished. She has not been seen or heard from since, and suddenly she reached out to her mom several days ago," WSFA's Lindsey Rogers told KPRC.

That was 16 months ago.

Metcalf saw her daughter in person for the first time in almost a year and a half Wednesday afternoon as the two reunited in Texas.

For a long time, Metcalf had been sharing posts like this one on Facebook:

The family, which had been targeted by scammers in the past, confirmed along with law enforcement that Freeman was safe.

"I have seen her," Metcalf told AL.com. "I'm with her now and so happy. Of course."

Although the mother couldn’t be happier, she said there are people out there sending her daughter "ugly messages."

Metcalf did not specify why her daughter ran away but said “she went through some things when she was younger.”

“She’s had a hard time with it and our communication wasn’t the best and she didn’t think I’d understand (my fault not hers) we are working on that now,” Metcalf wrote. “She is just trying to heal now.”

Speaking to KPRC, Freeman's uncle, Calvin Thornton, said he and his wife, Theresa, have kept a candle light burning in their window in the hopes that it would help their niece find her way home.

“I’m very grateful for all the well wishes, people praying. We’ve had people come here and pray with us,” Calvin Thornton said. “All I care about is the fact that my niece has been found. She’s safe, she’s alive. Right now that’s the biggest focus and that’s the only thing we’re going to focus on. We’ll get the answers in time.”

Cox Media Group