A 13-year-old Arizona girl who disappeared nearly 32 years ago has been found alive, the Gila County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
The disappearance of Christina Marie Plante from Star Valley, a small community in a mountainous area northeast of Phoenix, in 1994 sparked an extensive search that included volunteers, the sheriff’s office said.
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Although the case went cold, it was never closed, and it was periodically re-reviewed, the sheriff’s office said. It was assigned to a cold case unit after the unit was formed.
“Utilizing advances in technology, modern investigative techniques, and detailed case review, detectives developed new leads that ultimately led to a breakthrough,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The sheriff’s office said that out of respect for Plante’s privacy, additional details were not being released Wednesday.
When she disappeared on May 16, 1994, she was reported to have last been seen going on foot to a stable where her horse was kept, the sheriff's office said in a missing person poster.
