Missing Girl Found, Difficult Questions Remain

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by Morgan Fogarty
Bio | Email | Follow: @MorganFogarty by Photographer Billy Carrier

Story Created: Jan 27, 2013 at 10:06 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jan 27, 2013 at 11:45 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The distance between Keyonna Leak's school bus stop and her home is maybe 150 yards.  That still gave her accused kidnappers plenty of time to act.  They grabbed the 12-year-old after she got off the school bus last Thursday afternoon.  She says she was thrown into a vehicle.  "And was held down and covered," explains her grandfather.
 
Her family says Keyonna told them she was driven around and temporarily taken into a hotel room but mostly, kept inside a vehicle, alone and with only the clothes on her back.  "The coldest nights of the year, she was outside, sleeping in a car, cold.  Locked in," says her grandmother.

On Saturday, whoever took the girl decided to dump her in Uptown Charlotte near the transit center.  A security guard recognized Keyonna's shoes - purple sneakers.  They'd been mentioned on her missing person poster.

"The shoes that she was wearing, he said they stood out," says Keyonna's mom.  She says, "I'm thankful that she's home, she's safe, I hate that this ever happened to my child and I hope it never happens to anybody else's child."

For now, the family is not asking the girl for details about what happened during her two days with her kidnappers.  Her aunt says, "Some ugly things have happened to her and she does not want to talk about them right now."
 
They're letting the police do their work and they are pleading for anyone with information to step forward.  Her grandmother says, "Whoever it was that did this to my grandbaby, we are looking for you."

While Keyonna was missing, she was sending messages to her family through a Facebook account they didn't know she had.  They're working to learn more about who else she may have been talking to before she was snatched.

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