Missing 9-year-old found safe after 2 years thanks to TV show

LUBBOCK, Texas (WHDH) — A young girl who went missing for nearly two years was found safe thanks to a tip generated by a television show.

According to KCBD, Mariah Martinez and her two siblings, Jeremiah and Leimiah, went missing in October 2016, after an investigator with the Department of Family and Protective Services filed a missing persons report.

The investigator had obtained a court order to remove the children from their parent’s custody due to allegations of child abuse, but they were unable to track the family down. The mother had reportedly fled with her children.

Police later found the mother, Amanda Martinez, and Mariah’s two siblings living with relatives in January of 2017. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports the mother was arrested on a state felony charge of interference with child custody.

But it took another year to find Mariah, after her case was featured on the A&E show “Live PD” on Friday. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Mariah was found in New Mexico after a viewer of the show called in a tip about the girl’s whereabouts. Authorities did not say who Mariah was with when she was found.

The Lubbock Police Department said in a statement that its thankful for the “diligence and continued effort” of the NCMEC, who placed this case “at the top of their priority list.”

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