Missing Norfolk 15-year-old found safe in Arizona
Kadence Morrell, a 15-year-old girl who went missing from her Lafayette neighborhood home nearly two weeks ago, has been safely located.
Morrell was found in Arizona, the Norfolk Police Department announced Monday morning. It was not immediately clear how or why Morrell made her way west.
Morrell was found safe and seemingly uninjured in an apartment complex in Tolleson, Arizona, according to a Tolleson Police Department spokesperson. Lieutenant Lee Garrett said the FBI office in Arizona requested assistance finding the girl because they had a lead on the apartment complex.
Garrett said police cannot release information about who she was with or the circumstances that led her there as the FBI investigation is ongoing. Garrett said Morrell was cooperative with officers and is en route back to Norfolk.
Morrell had been last seen Aug. 3 at her home in the 3100 block of Norway Place. Norfolk Police sent a release about her disappearance Aug. 8. Family members and volunteers spent days searching for the girl and handing out flyers in Norfolk.
Lisa Smith, Kadence’s grandmother, described Kadence as caring and selfless to The Virginian-Pilot the day before her granddaughter was found.
“When she was very young, they lived in an apartment complex in Virginia Beach and I would go on pick them up for the weekend,” said Smith, who lives in Chesapeake. “They would get up early every Saturday, her and her sister, bake cookies, and pass them out to all the elderly in their building.”
Lauren Girgis, lauren.girgis@virginiamedia.com
