UPDATE:Runaway Mountain Lakes teen found, unhurt, by shopping plaza in Philadelphia

Mountain Lakes runaway Thomas Kolding has been found safe in Philadelphia, two weeks after he left his parents a note and left home with $1,000.

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office and Mountain Lakes police announced at 5 p.m. Tuesday that the 15-year-old was found safe.

Authorities did not provide details on where Kolding was found. However, his father Nicolai Kolding posted on Facebook that Thomas was found in Philadelphia and needed at least a night in the hospital, as "he's been through a lot over these last two weeks."

Nicolai Kolding also thanked everyone who helped in the search, and said "in time there may be more to share."

Agencies credited with helping in the search are New Jersey State Police and police forces from NJ Transit, Amtrak, Camden, Philadelphia, the Delaware Port Authority and Miami Township, Ohio.

Family and friends had continued a persistent search for the 15-year-old, two weeks after he left home the night before Halloween and 10 days after his last confirmed sighting in Philadelphia.

A few hours before Thomas was found Tuesday, his father posted a video on YouTube telling his son he loved him and that he would be sincerely listened to if he came home.

"We all miss you, every day, every second of every day," Kolding said on the video. "I don't want you out there feeling like you're being hunted down. That's one of my biggest fears, that you're a fugitive and maybe you're watching this all along and still want to keep going.

"One of the things I've not been able to figure out from the start is are you running to, is it some almost-adventure, or are you running from? It's the second part that scares me. But Thomas, I want you to know how sorry I am. If there's something all along you were trying to say and you felt like I wasn't listening, I just didn't hear you, I didn't connect, or worse yet that you felt you couldn't say something, I'm sorry," the father said on his video.

Friends also started a GoFundMe page to help parents Nicolai and Aleksandra Kolding with flyer printing, search and travel costs. As of Tuesday morning, the site had reached nearly $16,000 of a $20,000 donation goal and says that if Thomas is found or excess funds remain, they will be donated to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Overwhelmed by calls, travel and research, the parents have posted updates for the community on their Facebook page.

The last confirmed sighting came Nov. 3. That's when Thomas was captured on surveillance camera images at the Walter Rand train station in Camden around 2 p.m. and within an hour at the corner of Fifth and Race streets in Philadelphia. The family received unconfirmed reports of Thomas being seen in Ohio but none had panned out, authorities said.

Nicolai Kolding wrote on Facebook that he went to Camden last Friday to try to make sense of his son's route through the teen's eyes.

"I'm retracing his steps now to try to find out more and see things through his eyes," Kolding wrote.

The father's latest post said the family spent time Monday celebrating the birthday of Thomas' youngest brother, and had been meeting virtually non-stop with detectives, including those from Mountain Lakes and the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

"It was clearly not the same without Thomas, but we also all needed to smile and even laugh a little together," Nicolai Kolding wrote.

FIND THOMAS:Missing Mountain Lakes teen left cellphone behind, took $1,000 in cash when he left home

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RUNAWAYS:Mountain Lakes teen Thomas Kolding puts spotlight on runaways

The Mountain Lakes High School freshman and soccer player left notes for his parents and a friend the night of Oct. 30 before riding his bicycle to the Denville train station. Police and family say he boarded a train for Newark then continued to Penn Station in New York City, with his last known whereabouts in Philadelphia on Nov. 3.

Nicolai Kolding had said in an interview that an argument over grades and "not living up to his potential" he had with his honors-student son may have led to the teen's disappearance. He left with about $1,000 in savings and a large blue Adidas backpack but left behind his cellphone and other electronic devices so he couldn't be tracked, his father has said.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 862-207-0779; pwright@GannettNJ.com