A missing teenage girl who left a note on her pillow saying ‘this is goodbye for a long time’ has been found after a four-day search.
Geneva Hodge, 17, vanished from her home in Bellville, Texas, early Wednesday morning after an older man convinced her to run away with him.
Her mother, Frances Schrader, discovered the note hours later and feared she had been kidnapped by human traffickers after Geneva was spotted with the man.
Finally on Sunday morning, she received a call from a stranger who had found Geneva and got Shrader’s number from a flyer.
She drove 63 miles to Spring, Texas, and picked up her daughter, whom she said was in good health.
‘She’s doing good. She slept for a while today,’ she told DailyMail.com.
‘We just did a prayer at our home about 50 people showed up with roses.
‘I’m so relieved I haven’t smiled since Wednesday. Everyone said I’m glowing today.
‘We are so thankful for everyone who shared our story and the prayers.’
Schrader said she was still piecing together what happened to her daughter during the four days she was missing.
The teen left a note on her pillow telling her mother ‘this will be the last time you’ll hear from me for a very long time’, then left her Bellville, Texas, home sometime on Wednesday morning.
She told DailyMail.com the discovery of the scribbled letter left her ‘completely heartbroken’.
‘It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest,’ she said.
Schrader shared the note with DailyMail.com and said it sounded nothing like her daughter, who was excited for her senior year of school.
‘Dear mom, I love you a lot and I know me leaving is going to kill you. I’m alright! It was nobody’s decision but my own,’ it read.
‘I’m going to do online schooling and finish everything. I’m with some people that I trust very much.
‘I’m always gonna be your little girl. I’ve grown up and became this amazing young lady. Just remember mom, I love you so much!!
‘This is goodbye for a long time! I’m sorry. Bye mom, I love you! Love, Geneva.’
Schrader said her daughter was a ‘good kid’ who had never done anything like this before.
Schrader said Geneva factory reset her phone, took the SIM card out, put it in a different phone case and hid it in a drawer with other old phones.
Geneva had bought a new phone case from Five Below during a recent girls shopping trip with her brother’s fiancée.
She left without any clothes, medicine, her asthma puffer, or even a toothbrush, and her debit card hadn’t been used since she disappeared.
Schrader said she was so sick with worry that she barely ate or slept since Geneva disappeared.
Schrader had made an emotional appeal in a Facebook post for her daughter to come home.
‘I’m so worried about her. I love my girl. Everyone is worried about you Geneva. Please call momma. I will come and get you,’ she wrote.
‘I miss you and I love you very much. You’re my baby girl and I want you to come home.’
In an update to Facebook, the Bellville Police Department confirmed Geneva had returned home.
Reunited with family,’ the update said.