Brenna Gessner, 12 MSG Since 04/05/09 From Elysburg, PA [FOUND SAFE]

[Grande]

Published April 06, 2009 01:49 pm -
Volunteers are searching Ralpho Township for a a missing 12-year-old girl.
Search under way for missing girl

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ELYSBURG – Volunteers are searching Ralpho Township for a a missing 12-year-old girl.

Police identified the girl as Brenna Gessner of North Market Street. She was last seen about 11 p.m. Sunday.

A family member said when her mother went to wake her up this morning she was not in her bed or the house.

The family member said she does not have a history of running away.

She is about 5 feet tall and weighs about 115 pounds. She has blonde hair and hazel eyes.

Police said she could be wearing a lime green or white jacket with light colored pants.

Numerous emergency personnel and the family are assisting in the search. A state police helicopter is also being used..

Anyone with information on Gessner’s whereabouts is asked to call Ralpho Township Police or Northumberland County Communications at 988-4539.

http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_096134913.html

[AmyE]

Missing Girl Found
April 6, 2009

A girl missing from her home in Northumberland County has been found.

Nearly 100 people spent most of the day searching for Brenna Gessner, 12, of Elysburg. She was last scene Sunday night at her home on North Market Street.

Late Monday afternoon she was found walking along a road just about a mile from her home. Authorities rushed to the location along Fairview Street in Ralpho Township where she was found. Fire officials said the road had been checked three or four times before.

Crews spread out across the area Monday, searching on the ground and from the sky for Brenna. The search began about 9 a.m. after her parents discovered her missing from her bedroom. They thought she was getting ready for school but she was not in the room.

Searchers looked in vacant homes and ditches in a 100-mile radius surrounding Elysburg. It's not know what led to the girl's disappearance.

Friends made signs to welcome Brenna home. They showed up at the Elysburg Fire Company to show their support.

The girl is said to be well. She was taken to the hospital to be checked.

http://www.wnep.com/wnep-numb-girl-missing,0,4952949.story

[sarahhod]

Published April 07, 2009 07:16 am -

After an almost eight-hour search involving more than 160 emergency personnel and volunteers, a missing 12-year-old girl was found apparently safe and sound late Monday afternoon.


Ralpho Township: Missing girl found
Details sketchy about where 12-year-old spent day

By Rob Scott and Rick Dandes
The Daily Item



ELYSBURG — After an almost eight-hour search involving more than 160 emergency personnel and volunteers, a missing 12-year-old girl was found apparently safe and sound late Monday afternoon.
Brenna Gessner, a seventh-grader at the Southern Columbia Middle School, was spotted along Fairview Street in the vicinity of Bebenek Lumber Co. at about 4:50 p.m. by a member of the search party, according to Ralpho Township Manager Joe Springer.
She was three-fourths of a mile from her family’s home, in an area that had been searched numerous times, said Robert Dluge Jr., assistant chief of the Elysburg Fire Company.
Last seen Sunday night
She was last seen at 11 p.m. Sunday and was gone when her mother, Melissa, went to wake her for school Monday morning, according to the girl’s great-grandfather, George John.
Ralpho Township police contacted the Elysburg Fire Company after the girl was reported missing, and emergency personnel from more than a half-dozen agencies were mobilized.
The person who saw her on the street Monday afternoon called 911. “And within minutes, a crew that was in the immediate area was there,” Dluge said.
“There appeared to be no indication of abduction,” he said. “She looked OK. She was conscious, oriented and was talking to people. She was taken to a local medical facility for examination. That’s standard procedure.”
Neither Springer nor Dluge was prepared to speculate Monday night on why Brenna left home. Calls to the Gessner house were answered by a man who would only say, “She’s OK, but she’s not home yet.”
Reached at 9 p.m., the girl’s aunt, Kristen Bell, said, “By the grace of God, she is back.” She declined to answer questions about why Brenna left home.
Dluge said police on Monday night still were investigating the cause of her disappearance.
100-square-mile area searched
Search teams started their work at about 9 a.m., canvassing the area in vehicles before heading out on foot. Dluge said the teams searched all of Ralpho Township and most of Shamokin Township and expanded their search into parts of Rush and Mayberry townships as well.
“We searched a 100-square-mile area,” he said. “We had 20 search teams. We searched Elysburg at least four times, all roads. We had overflights, search dog teams. This was a well-organized search.”
K-9 units from Sunbury and Northumberland County and two state police helicopters aided in the search.
Police dogs were taken to the Gessners’ home at 177 N. Market St., just down the road from the fire station, where they picked up the girl’s scent and followed it into a wooded area behind the house.
Friends, neighbors and fellow church members offered their assistance, and several girls put up fliers containing Brenna’s picture around the town.
‘Pleased at the outcome’
About 90 minutes before Brenna was found, Dluge said: “There’s not one stone we’re going to leave unturned. ... As long as we can continue the search, we will, as long as we’re physically able.”
Later Monday night, he said: “We tried. That’s all I can say. We don’t yet know why this happened, but for now, we are pleased at the outcome.”
Assisting were the Ralpho Township Fire Company, Ralpho Township police, Elysburg Fire Company, Northumberland County Communications Center, Northumberland County Sheriff’s Department, Kulpmont Fire Department, Shamokin Fire Department, Coal Township Fire Department, Stonington Fire Company, Upper Augusta Fire Company, Southside Fire Company, of Riverside, and Catawissa Fire Company.


http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_097071853.html?keyword=topstory

[sarahhod]

Published April 08, 2009 06:57 am

Police determined there was nothing criminal about the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl Monday, but released no new details about why she went missing.

Probe closed in missing girl case
She was found after search

By Rob Scott
The Daily Item

ELYSBURG — Police determined there was nothing criminal about the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl Monday, but released no new details about why she went missing.
A release issued by Ralpho Township Manager Joe Springer said township police had closed their investigation into Brenna Gessner’s disappearance and found there was no criminal activity.
However, Springer said he could provide no further details when called for comment.
“It’s obvious that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be,” he said.
Springer said police did not provide him with more details about the circumstances surrounding Brenna’s disappearance Monday.
Brenna was last seen at 11 p.m. Sunday, but was gone when her mother, Melissa, went to wake her for school Monday morning, according to the girl’s great-grandfather, George John, of Gowen City.
After it was discovered she was missing, more than 160 emergency personnel and volunteers were mobilized to begin a search for the Southern Columbia seventh-grader.
She turned up shortly before 5 p.m., walking along Fairview Street, about three-fourths of a mile from her family’s home at 177 N. Market St.
Brenna’s parents, Douglas and Melissa Gessner, and other family members could not be reached Tuesday for comment.


http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_098065807.html