Missing New Hampshire girl, 15, safely reunited with her family after vanishing nine months ago

Abigail Hernandez, 15, disappeared October 9 in Conway, New Hampshire

Teenager sent her mother a letter on October 23

Her mother said this week: 'We are the happiest people on earth'

The circumstances of her disappearance under investigation, police said



Abigail Hernandez has been safely reunited with her family after disappearing nine months ago.



The 15-year-old vanished on October 9 from her home in New Hampshire .



Zenya Hernandez, Abigail’s mother, said today 'we are the happiest people on earth', according to a release from the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.

A press release this week said that the facts and circumstances surrounding Abigail's disappearance are still under investigation.

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Abigail Hernandez, a New Hampshire teenager, has been safely reunited with her family after disappearing ten months ago

The family had received a glimmer of hope after Abby wrote and posted them a letter in the weeks after her disappearance.

Authorities revealed few details about the letter at the time out of fear copycats could hamper the investigation and asked the family to do the same. Investigators had given no updates as to whether the letter has produced any leads.

Mrs Hernandez told ABC in December that she believed her daughter was still alive. She said: 'If Abby comes back, she won't be the ''missing girl''. We can get our lives back to normal. 'I would meet her anywhere she needs me to. She needs to know she is not in trouble with anyone. I just love her and want her home safe.' Zenya Hernandez posted this heartbreaking letter begging her daughter to come for the holidays after she has been missing since October 9

Contact: Abigail Hernandez's mother Zenya, pictured left with the teenager's sister Sarah, wrote a Christmas letter to her daughter begging her to come home in December. She has now safely returned

In a heartbreaking open letter with a little sketch of a Christmas tree, the distraught mother wrote: 'I thank God every day that you are alive!



'I miss hearing your voice and your sense of humor. Please let me know what I can do to help you.

'Please come home for Christmas.'

Earlier on December 12, she wrote on the family's site: 'I will ALWAYS love you. I will ALWAYS have hope. i will NEVER stop looking. Love, MOM.'

Abigail Hernandez wrote her mother a letter postmarked October 23 that was received by the family on November 6.



Officials delayed information about the letter so it could be thoroughly analyzed in order to be certain that it was actually written by the teenager.

Law enforcement officials say that although the letter has given them fresh hope, they fear deeply for Miss Hernandez's safety.

One FBI investigator had suggested that Abigail could face a similar danger to the young women in Cleveland, Ohio who escaped after being held for ten years by Ariel Castro.

Returned: Abigail Hernandez, pictured in security footage on the day she disappeared, returned home Sunday

The content of the letter or where it was postmarked has not been revealed as police fear copycats could send letters that would hamper the investigation.



Abigail was last seen on Wednesday, October 9, leaving Kennett High School in North Conway.



Police said she walked her normal route home and sent several texts to a friend between 2:30 and 3pm. At first, police said she made it home but later this was proved false.



Authorities also released a picture of necklace that the teenager often wore along with a purse she was carrying at the time of her disappearance, in the hope of jogging someone's memory.



Ms Young said: 'This is a child. She was 14 when she disappeared and had her 15th birthday a few days later.'

She added that the missing girl has no source of income, so someone is helping her 'whether that is a friend or what we fear is a foe'.



FBI investigator Kieran Ramsey said that they feared although Abby may have left willingly, she was now being coerced or manipulated.



Since her disappearance, Miss Hernandez's parents have made repeated public pleas for her safe return - even stating in a televised interview that they believe she got in a car with someone and that they believe she is in serious trouble.

Incentive: The FBI offered a $20,000 reward for information in the missing person case

The last call made on a missing New Hampshire girl’s cellphone was October 9 about four hours after she was last seen, investigators said. The last sighting of the girl, who ran on the track team for her school and was described as quiet and bright, was around 2.30pm.

Investigators believe Abigail made it back to her home, but when her mother came back from her nursing job, her daughter was gone.

The schoolgirl's 15th birthday was on October 12.





Police said they have not located the girl’s phone, but have determined that the last call was made at 6.30pm - about four hours after her last sighting.

