DES MOINES, Iowa - The mother of a 15-year-old girl from Mississippi who was found in Johnston is grateful her daughter is safe.
"When your child goes missing, you miss a part of yourself also," Diana Brand told WHO-TV. "You are empty. I'm going to hug her and never let her go."
Diana Brand is working with child protective services to get 15-year-old Monica O'Bryan back home to Mississippi
O'Bryan, who'd been missing since last Tuesday, was found safe 700 miles away in Johnston Sunday afternoon.
The Polk County Sheriff's office was contacted by the Belmont Mississippi Police Department about a missing 15-year-old girl who may have been inside a Walmart store in Grimes. That location was obtained from a snapchat O'Bryan sent to her mother.
The store was closed down while a search of the general area was conducted. O'Bryan was found safe about a mile away at Johnston High School just after 5:30 pm.
Twenty-one-year-old Jared Wright of Lawton, Oklahoma is charged with harboring a runaway is O'Bryan's disappearance. He was taken to Polk County Jail.