• She left home with family’s help
• Case initially thought to be a kidnapping

A woman who went missing nearly 32 years ago, when she was just 13 and living in Arizona, has revealed that she was not abducted as previously believed, but ran away with the help of certain family members.

Christina Marie Plante, now 44 and living under a different name, told investigators at the Gila County Sheriff’s Office that her family helped her leave home.

Deputy Chief James Lahti said, “This is information we were not aware of before we located her. Until then, we assumed she had been kidnapped.”

Terry Hudgens, a former Gila County sheriff’s deputy who initially investigated the girl’s disappearance, expressed surprise at the renewed public interest in the case, explaining that it had been resolved shortly after she was reported missing. The girl had been known as “Tina” at the time.

Hudgens explained that Plante’s father had legal custody of her, but she wanted to live with her mother. While walking to a nearby stable to care for her horse, she met her mother, and together they went to Phoenix Airport and left the state—possibly even the country.

He added that the investigation was closed after confirming her safety, describing the situation as a family custody dispute.

Lahti confirmed that Hudgens led the initial search for Plante, and that the case had never been officially closed. He also confirmed that some family members had helped her disappear, without providing further details.

“We are still reviewing what happened and will update the public as new information becomes available,” he said.

Gila County Sheriff Adam Shepherd drew national attention to the sparsely populated county northeast of Phoenix when announcing Plante’s discovery on Wednesday, emphasizing that her privacy would be respected and her current location would not be disclosed.

Captain Jamie Garrett, the deputy who found Plante, said the young girl left home voluntarily with the help of family members she had stayed in touch with.

“I was stunned. It seems she was unhappy with her living situation and with whom she was living, so she decided to run away,” Garrett said.

Plante told investigators that the past was an old life and that she now lives as an adult with her own family, no longer thinking about what happened more than three decades ago.

Plante had gone missing on May 16, 1994, from the small town of Star Valley while heading to the stable to care for her horse. Contemporary newspaper reports indicated that she had spoken to friends about wanting to run away, but no one took her seriously at the time.