23 … Rec’d Two Weeks Later

15 year old Abigail Hernandez was last seen on October 9, 2013 as she headed home from her high school in the town of Conway, New Hampshire. At the news conference on Friday, December 6, authorities revealed that Abigail’s mother, Zenya Hernandez, received a letter on November 6 that appeared to be from her missing daughter. The content of the letter was not made public; however, the letter is said to be authentic. ” Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said, “We are concerned for her safety. She is not out there alone. She has somebody who is either helping her, whether that be a friend, or what we fear is a foe.”

Calling it “unprecedented,” law enforcement officials announced during a news conference on Friday that a missing New Hampshire teenager who disappeared two months ago on her way home from school wrote a letter to her mother that was postmarked two weeks after her disappearance.

Officials say they kept quiet about the letter for a month out of fear that releasing it publicly would compromise the investigation.

Ramsey noted that one of eight endangered runaways ends up being sexually exploited.

“Though she could have left willingly, someone now could be coercing her,” he said. “Someone now may be manipulating her.”

CNN:

At the news conference, authorities revealed that Abigail’s mother, Zenya Hernandez, received a letter on November 6 that appeared to be from her missing daughter. That letter was kept secret until Friday, said Young, because “law enforcement had to take every possible step to verify its authenticity.”

“And at this juncture, we believe in fact that it was written by Abby and was sent to her mother,” Young added.

Neither federal nor state authorities would discuss the contents of the letter beyond Young saying the writing is in “a tone Abby would have used,” and that the letter underwent “expert analysis” before its existence was announced publicly.

Officials also said revealing details about the letter could potentially trigger “copycat” letters that would slow down the investigation.

The letter was written on October 22, and postmarked on October 23, according to Young, and it was turned over to authorities for investigation after Zenya Hernandez received it nearly two weeks after it was postmarked.

“When we received this letter I will tell you it was unprecedented. We have not seen anything like that in recent times in other investigations, but most importantly, it gave us hope,” FBI Special Agent Kieran Ramsey said at the news conference.

If anyone has any information regarding Abigail Hernandez’s whereabouts, please contact the Conway police at 603-356-5715.

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