This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 13-year-old girl police feared may have run away from her Bountiful home with a man she met online is back with her family.
Bountiful police confirmed Wednesday morning that Kayla Leatherman had returned home was safe, but did not immediately release any other information — including whether the unknown man had been located or taken into custody.
Bountiful police had been searching for the girl since Tuesday afternoon. In issuing an endangered and missing person advisory, authorities said the girl had recently been in contact via social media and text messages with a man from Idaho.
Bountiful Assistant Chief Ed Biehler said Leatherman was last seen walking with a classmate at about 3 p.m. Tuesday in the area of 500 South and Main Street, he said. Police watched camera footage and saw her leave school alone.
Biehler worked into late Tuesday night investigating tips from classmates and family.
The girl apparently left home after her parents discovered the exchanges with the man — which police said were not sexual in nature — and confronted her.
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