A missing young cheerleader has been found alive after a desperate search was launched when she disappeared from school.
Ava Phillips, 17, had been missing since Tuesday and was last seen leaving Angleton High School at 10:02 a.m. getting into a white Toyota Corolla.
Her mother, Kailey Perez, suspected Phillips was with her boyfriend heading to Austin, which is nearly 200 miles from the town of Angleton.
She later revealed to him Click on Houston that her daughter had recently been “trying to distance herself from a boy who had been emotionally abusive toward her,” though it is unclear whether her current boyfriend is the abuser.
But in a shocking update, the Angleton Police Department revealed that Ava “is safe and has been reunited with her family,” though it offered no additional information.
Ava Phillips, 17, was last seen leaving Angleton High School around 10 a.m. and getting into a white Toyota Corolla after skipping her fourth-period class.
DailyMail.com reached out to Ava’s mother for comment and did not immediately receive a response.
The large-scale search effort for Ava was aided by Alex Bregman, the third baseman for the Houston Astros, who shared a bulletin describing his disappearance in X.
His post received 158,000 views.
It is unclear why Ava abandoned her car in the school parking lot on the day she left. Important items such as her phone, keys and backpack were still in her car.
Ava’s boyfriend has not yet been identified by police.
The large-scale search effort for Ava was aided by Alex Bregman, the third baseman for the Houston Astros, who shared a bulletin describing her disappearance on X
The teenager’s mother, Kailey Perez, was the first to raise the alarm after her car was found in the school car park with her phone, keys and backpack inside. Now that Ava has been found, it is not known why she did it.
While she was still missing, Perez claimed Ava called her from a different number and sounded distressed.
“She called me from a blocked number. She seemed scared and I don’t think she’s in control.
“She told me she would come home, but she hasn’t. I just want her to come home safely. She seems very scared.
“His voice is shaking a lot. I don’t think he has control. I think someone is telling him what to say.”
“She’s a beautiful, sweet little girl who would never run away,” the distraught mother said.