Photo for Headline Surfer / Missing since Friday when she left a note for her mother, 16-year-old runaway Tara Jean Yunker was found safe and secure at 5:28 tonight by Melbourne police.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Tara Jean Yunker, the 16-year-old New Smyrna Beach girl missing since Friday when she left her mother a note and ran off has been safely found, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office confirmed just after 9 p.m.
She was found safe and secure by Melbourne police at 5:28 p.m., a sheriff's sergeant said, after reviewing police teletypes and speaking with other personnel who were able to verify the breaking news.
Yunker's mother, Jeannie, expressing relief that her daughter had been found and that they were reunited, said in a statement released by friend Jennifer Patten: "We do not wish to release specifics tonight, but would like everyone to know that Tara was found in Melbourne around 5 p.m. this evening."
Patten, of DeLand, added, "Her mother and sister are with her now. Jeannie is so grateful to the community for all of their support, prayers, and well-wishes. She is extremely touched by the efforts put forth by family, friends and even strangers. She asks that everyone continue to pray for Tara."
Headline Surfer was the first Volusia County-based media outlet to report the news released by the Sheriff's Office just before 4 p.m. Wednesday that she had been reported missing since 6 p.m. Friday. The internet news site also posted its breaking news story on its Facebook fan page.
The daughter left a note behind at the family home at 2233 Juanita Drive, that indicated that she had run away. In the note, the teen, said that she was going to leave on a bus, but would return soon.
Yunker’s mother reported her daughter missing to the Sheriff’s Office that night. The mother told deputies that Yunker "has a chronic addiction to prescription narcotics and as a result had previously been in a rehabilitation program," according to Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught.
Here are a couple more photos of Tara Yunker posted on Facebook that was headlined: Help Find Tara Yunker.
While there was suspicion Tara might have reconnected with another teen runaway she had met in rehab, all of that speculation took a back seat to the news of her being found.
Patten, 31, who is close friends with Tara's mother, had put up a page on Facebook, "Help Find Tara Yunker," just a few days ago and 878 people signed on as "friends" to do whatever they could to lend support.
"Everyone really cares about Tara and her mother," Patten said.