Missing Washington teenager found safe and well was 'victim of human traffickers'
Anji Dean left a disturbing message in her journal before vanishing for more than two weeks
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Your support makes all the difference.A Washington teenager missing for more than two weeks has been found safe and well – but authorities have said she was the victim of human trafficking.
Angelic (Anji) Dean, from Camas in Clark County, was found on Wednesday afternoon at a shopping centre in Oregon after going missing on 23 June, according to KGW. The young woman left her house without her glasses, purse or mobile phone.
Police have said the 17-year-old was targeted by human traffickers but have not released any details of her condition.
Lynda Jorgensen, Anji's mother, told KGW: “This can happen to anybody. There are a lot of people out there preying on young girls.”
“I’m glad it’s over,” she said.
Anji left a chilling message in her journal before she disappeared, which read: “If you’re reading this, I’m either missing or dead.”
And, according to the Camas-Washougal Post-Record, she also sent her boyfriend alarming text messages on the day she went missing, saying that she was in danger and people had threated to kill both him and her family.
A Milwaukee woman told KGW that she had been helping Anji for a number of days during the time that she vanished.
“She said she was in a bad situation and needed to get out,” the woman, identified only as Jennifer, said.
She added that Anji had said she wanted to be called “Daisy” and said that people were most likely searching for her and she was being forced into things against her will.
But she left before Jennifer could provide assistance.
A huge search operation had been launched in the wake of Anji’s disappearance, with police receiving hundreds of tips.
A neighbour reported seeing the teenager get out of an old, blue Volvo that was filled with passengers on the day she went missing. The neighbour said a black man, aged between 25 and 35, with a goatee, was driving the car, which pulled up outside Anji’s home at about 4.30pm.
The investigation is on-going.