Missing Vancouver Island girl, 13, found safe

A 13-year-old girl who was missing for two weeks on Vancouver Island has been found safe, according to police.

Mounties issued an urgent plea Thursday for the safe return of the Ladysmith, B.C., teen whose father was in police custody for refusing to disclose her whereabouts to authorities.

The high-profile case sparked a wave of social media posts claiming to prove the girl was not missing but was either on holiday or hiding from police and the B.C. Ministry of Child and Family Development.

During a live news conference Thursday, the RCMP said they had disproven many of the claims though at least one such video was still being assessed by investigators.

Island District RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Alex Bérubé said Friday that Mounties typically protect the privacy of a missing person who has been located by not identifying them by name.

“However this case was highly publicized and the public had major concerns for her well-being,” he said.

Bérubé thanked the media for publicizing the case, saying news reports “played a major role in the successful and positive outcome of this investigation.”

Police “will not provide further information as to where or how she was found and will leave that to the family,” he added.