GORHAM — Returning from vacation, Detective Brian Key spent the first part of his workday Monday poring through an overflowing inbox of emails.

So the statewide bulletin from last week that asked police to look out for a teenage runaway was fresh on his mind as he pulled up to a house on Huston Road on Monday afternoon to investigate a complaint of stolen firewood.

Additional Photos

Palmyra teen Harley McGinnis, who was reported missing, from her home, has since been found and returned to her family. Contributed photo

As Key and Sgt. Dana Thompson questioned the residents, Key saw a girl in the house who resembled Harley McGinnis, 15, of Palmyra.

McGinnis, according to the bulletin, had been reported missing by her grandparents, who are her guardians, on Aug. 16. They said she had threatened to run away.

When questioned by Key, McGinnis identified herself.

“We had no independent information she was in town,” said Thompson, who credited Key with being observant and thorough.

McGinnis was in good health and there was no indication that she was being held against her will.

“She was hooked up with this family. Where they met her is unclear at this time,” Thompson said Tuesday.

Key returned to the police station with the girl and her family came to get her.

Thompson said the officers are still trying to get to the bottom of the theft of firewood from a house in the Huston Road neighborhood.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com

CORRECTION: This story was updated Wednesday, Aug. 29 to reflect that the detective’s last name is Thompson, not Anderson.

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