Sheriff: Lamar County teen found, ‘walks out of woods’ safe

LAMAR COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - After an extensive two-day search, a missing Lamar County teen walked out of the woods safe and in good spirits early Tuesday morning.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation first issued a Silver Alert for 18-year-old Alyssa Long on Sunday, June 4, after she disappeared from her home in the Baxterville community. A massive community-led search began in the wooded areas around Long’s house.

Long’s family noticed the teen was missing when they woke up for church and saw she had left through her window sometime that night. They said she has a medical condition that could impair her judgment, so they hoped she was just lost in the woods instead of picked up by someone dangerous on the road.

Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said Long approached search teams around sunrise on Tuesday. She appeared unharmed and in good spirits, but medical personnel were transporting her to a local hospital for evaluation as a precaution.

Rigel said watching the community come together to help Long and her family was inspiring.

“I’ve never seen the community come together for a common cause like that,” he said. “It was amazing. I want to say thank you to all of the volunteers.”

Rigel added that his office would issue a more official thank you later today after he’s able to put pen to paper in order not to miss any of the dozens of people and organizations that stepped up to help with the search.

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