MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — A missing teen has been found safe and unharmed more than 48 hours after she disappeared.
Jorja Ethridge was found safe not far from where she went missing.
"Considering the circumstances that she faced, she's doing great," said Monroe County Sheriff Brad Freeman.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office report, around 12 p.m., Ethridge was found in the Loraine Woods subdivision by one of the residents.
She was behind a house in that neighborhood and staying in the shed near the property.
This was less than a mile from where she went missing in the Rivoli Farm Drive subdivision.
"To say they were 'ecstatic' would be an understatement at this point," said Freeman about Ethridge's parents' response to finding her safe.
When Ethridge was found, she was cold, dehydrated, and hungry.
Sheriff Freeman said that every missing person situation is different, but their main priority is helping the person that is missing.
"Situations like this, she wasn't accused of a crime or anything like that. We definitely thought she was in danger for the simple fact it was 22 degrees the night she took off running," said Freeman.
Along with finding a missing person, there are different law enforcement units involved and it's all about timing, according to Freeman.
"We wanted to try and get a helicopter up as soon as we could and we did, and of course, we didn't find her as quickly as we liked," said Freeman.
Several units were involved in the search, but the sheriff couldn't say how much it cost.
"Every agency has obviously built into their budget situations like this. In this situation, sure, it cost us some overtime and a little more fuel is burned. Most of every agency, whether it's the Monroe County Sheriff Office, Bibb County, the Georgia State Patrol, you have that built into your budget. These are things we do, maybe not on a daily basis, but on a routine basis," said Freeman.
Freeman said he is happy that Jorja Ethridge was found unharmed.
He also wanted to thank the Monroe community and those who volunteered, Monroe County Fire Department and EMS, Bibb County Fire Department, U.S. Marshal Service, Monroe County District Attorney's Office, Georgia Department of Corrections, Georgia State Patrol, and Georgia Search and Rescue who helped bring Jorja home.