Missing Edgemont teen Christine (Ji Woo) Kang was found safe tonight at 7:45 p.m.
She entered St. Agnes Church at 143 East 43d Street in Manhattan this evening and asked if she could stay the night. Church officials recognized her and notified law enforcement after Edgemont residents Saturday posted flyers around Grand Central Station.
Aubrey Graf-Daniels, who was heading up Edgemont Cares, was at Greenburgh police headquarters tonight and called to confirm the news. Greenburgh police have since issued the following press release. Ms. Graf-Daniels was meeting with the Kang family at police headquarter with Police Chief Chris McNerney to discuss a planned press conference early this week when police called with the news that Ms. Kang had been found.
Ms. Kang is in the custody of the Metropolitan Transit Police and is being escorted to Greenburgh police where she will be questioned. Ms. Kang will also be taken for a medical examination. As of right now, there are no details available on where she has been since she was last seen near Grand Central on the evening of January 2.
Chief McNerney praised Ms. Graf-Daniels for her efforts. “You did a great job organizing the community and I think that you were vital to Christine being found,” the chief said.
Edgemont school superintendent Victoria Kniewel and high school principal Devan Ganeshananthan issued the following statement this evening to all Edgemont parents and guardians, “It is with a joyous heard that we pass along the great news that Christine Kang was found in NYC. The Kang family sincerely appreciates the community coming together to rally behind the effort to find Christine.”
ECC president Bob Bernstein said, “Our prayers for Christine, her family and her friends have been answered. No one will know which volunteer handed out or posted the flyer which church officials at St. Agnes actually saw, so it is fitting that we not only thank our tireless volunteers for their efforts this weekend, but congratulate them all on a job well done.”
Ms. Kang ran away from home after an argument with a parent on Friday evening, January 2, took the train to Grand Central and was last seen walking south that night on Lexington Avenue just below 42d Street. She had no coat, no phone and no money.
Edgemont Cares, an arm of the Edgemont Community Council, was formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to help Edgemont families in need.
On Saturday, Edgemont Cares, led by Ms. Graf-Daniels, organized several hundred Edgemont students, teachers, parents and staff in Grand Central to distribute “missing person” flyers with Ms. Kang’s picture. The ECC website and Facebook pages had more than 120,000 hits since Ms. Kang went missing.