Missing 16-year-old Myrtle Beach girl found safe in Mount Pleasant
Marley McKenna Spindler, the 16-year-old Myrtle Beach girl who had been missing almost a week, was found safe by the Mount Pleasant Police Department on Wednesday.
Horry County police said Spindler, who was a Socastee High School student, will be reunited with her family as soon as possible.
“We are continuing to investigate this case to ensure we have a complete understanding of its facts and circumstances,” Lt. Raul Denis with Horry County police said. “The Horry County police sincerely thank everyone who assisted in the search for McKenna.”
Spindler’s missing person case was featured on a nationally syndicated TV show, Nancy Grace, and led police to chase down surveillance photos of her at the bank where she withdrew money the day she was last seen, which was Aug. 20, as well as municipal surveillance cameras showing her driving down Ocean Boulevard.
Spindler was last seen when she met her friends at a Chick-Fil-A on S.C. 544 before school. Police said Monday evidence suggests she “left alone and not under duress or coercion.”
Police learned that Spindler went to pick up a man, identified as Jeremy, to take him home in the Garden City Beach area of Georgetown County.
Police identified and cleared “Jeremy” by 7:45 p.m. Friday, Denis said.
Police spotted Spindler on municipal surveillance cameras driving down Ocean Boulevard and withdrawing less than $100 from her bank, Denis said. Spindler had changed clothes before withdrawing the money, he said.
“We have no reason to believe that there is any foul play involved in this case,” Denis said Monday.
Denis said a search of her cellular phone revealed evidence that she left alone.
Spindler told friends she would be at school after picking up Jeremy, but she did not show up to Socastee High School, according to an Horry County Police report. A friend of Spindler told police that “Jeremy” was somewhere on Ocean Boulevard and Spindler had met him on the beach about three weeks ago.
Spindler was last heard from in a group text message at 8:42 a.m. Aug. 20, according to the report. Spindler’s father called her cellphone at 4 p.m. and a clerk with Ocean Reef Resort answered and said the phone had been found earlier in the day in their parking lot.
Detectives took the phone and reported that Spindler was driving a silver 2002 Ford Escape with South Carolina license plate No. KFI776.
Several state and national agencies including the Center for Missing and Exploited Children joined Horry County police in the search for Spindler.
This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Missing 16-year-old Myrtle Beach girl found safe in Mount Pleasant."