UPDATE: Springfield police found a 13-year-old autistic girl who had been missing since Tuesday evening.
Police spokeswoman Lisa Cox confirmed Rachael A. Mosher, 13, was found safe about 11 a.m.
Missing girl found and is safe! #sgf
— Springfield PD (@SGFPolice) December 21, 2016
Further details are not yet available. The previous story is below:
Springfield, Missouri, police have asked the public for help finding a 13-year-old girl with autism, who has been missing since Tuesday evening.
According to police, Rachael A. Mosher, 13, left a relative's home in the 500 block of East Deerfield Street in Springfield at about 6 p.m. Tuesday.
By Wednesday morning, several additional officers had been assigned to search efforts, including specialized units of the Springfield Police Department. Officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Greene County Sheriff’s Office are providing support.
The overnight temperature dropped to 24 degrees at midnight, according to the National Weather Service in Springfield.
Police have encouraged citizens to check their property for Mosher — yards, outbuildings, unlocked cars. It is possible, police note, the girl took shelter from the cold. Police also encouraged community members to spread word of the search and be on the lookout for the teen anywhere in the city.
She was last seen in the area of Campbell Avenue and Walnut Lawn.
Mosher was described as having autism and high functioning. She was a student at Westport Middles School last year, according to an official with the Springfield school district.
She is 5 feet tall, weighs 90 pounds and has light brown hair and blue eyes.
She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a red jacket with fur around the hood, a white sweater with snowflakes and black boots. She was also wearing a pair of blue-framed eye glasses.
Anyone with information regarding Mosher’s whereabouts is asked to call 911.
Police had a mobile command post set up Wednesday morning in a parking lot on Walnut Lawn Street just east of Campbell Avenue.
At 9:30 a.m., there were several police cars slowly driving around in the area of Jefferson Avenue just south of Walnut Lawn.
Other officers were seen walking along drainage ditches in the area looking for Mosher.
A few Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers were also seen in the area Wednesday morning. A trooper confirmed the patrol had been called in to assist with the search.
