Missing teen found, previously thought to be in Mount Pleasant
Ann Arbor police have located 17-year-old Long Ahn Nguyen, who was believed to have been missing for close to a month.
Authorities believed Nguyen was in Mount Pleasant until he was found Monday in Ann Arbor. Mount Pleasant Police Department Public Information Officer Jeff Browne said the department spent the weekend searching for Nguyen.
"We put out an alert to have all of our road patrols look for him," Browne said.
Nguyen was located today and found to be alive and well. Ann Arbor Police Department Lt. Detective Robert Pfannes said he is glad Nguyen was found in good condition.
"Everything was fine," Pfannes said. "We've cancelled our alert. Nguyen may not have even gone to Mount Pleasant."
Nguyen was first reported missing by his family a few days ago, although they told police that he had been missing for close to a month. It was reported that Nguyen was last seen by his family at their Plainview Court residence on Jan. 31. Pfannes said this is not the case.
"There are different definitions of the word missing," Pfannes said. "There's a civilian definition of the word, and there's the legal term, missing person. Just because I don't know where you are at the moment, does not necessarily mean you are legally missing."
Ann Arbor police could not comment further due to concerns for Nguyen's privacy, other than to say that Nguyen was not in danger and is believed to have been staying with a friend in his absence. MLlive reported Detective William Stanford of the Ann Arbor Police Department said Nguyen, who was believed to be off of his medication during his absence, simply walked out.
"He had made indications to the family he needed to work a couple things out," Stanford said. "He just never came home."
One issue police encounter with missing person reports is that anybody can legally file a missing person report with the police, so an individual who is not genuinely missing can often garner significant police attention.
