A North Carolina woman who vanished from North Carolina as a teen has been found living in Ohio under an assumed name, authorities say.
Rachel Natacha Owen was last seen at age 15 when she was getting off her school bus in Boiling Spring Lakes.
More than five years have passed since Rachel's whereabouts were finally revealed.
On Friday, the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office announced Owen is alive and well and living in Columbus, Ohio, some 600 miles from where she was last spotted.
What's more, officials said Rachel — now 21 — had slipped away from her hometown on her own free will.
"There is no foul play in Rachel’s disappearance and no charges will be pursued at this time," a statement from the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office read. "Investigative efforts revealed that Rachel left and remained away on her own will.
"Investigators have learned that she went to great lengths to intentionally conceal her whereabouts, even assuming a false identity and date of birth."
The FBI had offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to Owens and someone identified as a potential captor. Officials believed as recently as 2014 that Owen may have been spotted in the Columbus area.
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