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Missing teens found safe, return home

Two teenage girls who were reported missing on Dec. 2 are back with their mother as of early Saturday morning.

Melanie Grant, the juveniles’ mother, said her daughters, Chrystan and Kaitlyn Owsley, ages 16 and 15, had been with a cousin in Auburn the four days in which they were the target of a regional manhunt.

“They were being rebellious teenagers,” Grant said Monday. “They wanted to be grown. Now, they’ve got a lot of consequences to face because of what they did.”

One of those consequences is facing a judge Jan. 7. Grant, a single mother from Gallion, said she expects the judge will require her daughters to do community service and get counseling.

She said she retrieved her children about 1 a.m. Saturday morning after the cousin called her to let her know the teens were in Lee County.

“I had no idea where they were,” Grant said. “I feel relieved and I am so thankful they are back home.”

She also expressed gratitude to the police officers who aided in the search.

“They tied up a lot of man hours,” Grant said. “Now, there is a consent decree and a probation officer. There are consequences for what they did.”

According to the teens’ mother, who has three other younger children, the cousin only became aware the girls were reported missing when police called.

She said the two ran away after a family dispute and told the Auburn cousin their mother had “kicked them out of the house.”

“I didn’t like one their boyfriends,” Grant said. “They’re fine – just rebellious.”