13-year-old found safe late Saturday

NEWARK, Ark. – At 9 p.m. Saturday night, the Batesville Chief of Police notified NEA Report that Paris Holt had been found safe. The missing girl had apparently ran away from home, as the chief of police had suspected.

“While this situation ended safely, we appreciate the public’s help in getting the word out,” Cockrill said about 9 p.m. to NEA Report.

The young Newark girl went missing Friday morning, reportedly at 5 a.m., the Batesville PD Facebook post said. Chief of Police Alan Cockrill said the girl had at least one bag with her when she was last seen, giving police the indication of it being a possible planned runaway.

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The family reached out to NEA Report with great angst about the situation. They feared something could have happened to Holt, even if she began the situation voluntarily.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, Holt was still missing.

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Her aunt, Kara Bates, said she was getting ready for school when she was last seen – but no one saw her walking to school and her friends at school never saw her make it Friday morning. Bates fears someone may have picked Holt up, voluntarily – or otherwise.

“No one knows where she could be,” Bates said. “Her phone is off. She hasn’t been on Facebook in over 24 hours.”

12 hours later, she still had not appeared on the social media site. It wasn’t until late Saturday she was located safe with a boy, the police chief said.

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Photos from Facebook