Found Safe NC - Kealy Merritt, 14, Dunn, 20 Dec 2020 *Endangered, bike found near woods*

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Her bike was found on the southbound side. The previous time she ran away she was found in Benson. The first time she ran away she cut her hair and changed her clothes. The last sighting of her was abt 1m south of godwin headed south.
 
diane1965 said:
Her bike was found on the southbound side. The previous time she ran away she was found in Benson. The first time she ran away she cut her hair and changed her clothes. The last sighting of her was abt 1m south of godwin headed south.
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That is very concerning. Do we know what she's running away from? Is it just mental illness or is she having problems at home? At 14, most kids have problems at home. It's either mom and dad grounding them, it's maybe mom and dad saying "no" to the things they want to do, etc. Might not be something super concerning, just normal "I hate my parents" teenage thing. But cutting her hair and changing her clothes is very... organized? I thought it was self harm, but now I think she's alive and just wanted to get away.
 
The video shows Kealy Merritt riding her bike south along an access road on Interstate 95 South near exit 70. Investigators said it is likely that drivers or others in the area saw her since that area is busy.

Authorities said Kealy left her home, located along 771 Ammons Road in Dunn, on a black mountain bike on December 20. Four days later, her bike was found in the wood line along I-95 South of exit 70.
Harnett County Sheriff's Office releases new video of missing 14-year-old girl
 
NCSleuth said:
Looking at google maps, I believe this is a dead end road. Wonder if they have video of her coming back. Was bike found at the end of this road?
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Yes, G-Maps does show it as a dead end road. I went poking and found out there is a construction project to widen I-95 through that area, though. The video does seem to show construction - just not sure how far it went until it was delayed by Covid. Maps at the link below that I haven't thoroughly checked out yet.

I95 Widening Updates - City of Dunn, North Carolina
 
It sounds like she had a plan and was very intentional on running away. It’s the second time, so what was going on?

I sure hope she wasn’t hit by a car, but if she was they would be able to tell from the bike. So I’m guessing she just ditched it and went the opposite way.
 
KatzEye said:
Yes, G-Maps does show it as a dead end road. I went poking and found out there is a construction project to widen I-95 through that area, though. The video does seem to show construction - just not sure how far it went until it was delayed by Covid. Maps at the link below that I haven't thoroughly checked out yet.

I95 Widening Updates - City of Dunn, North Carolina
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PommyMommy said:
Updated: HOME (700 Ammons Rd) to SEEN ON VIDEO (Copart Rd) to BICYCLE FOUND (Wooded area SB I-95, just south of Exit 70)
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Thank you for these super useful links!

As mentioned, the address she was seen on surveillance footage was a "dead end", but from the current street view on the google map, you can see the progress of the planned widening of the roadway. It's turned this "dead end" into an easy to access, bikeable thoroughfare that cars aren't even allowed to use yet.

My best guess is that she rode from her home, to Copart Ln, then used the closed section of the new interstate (the former "dead end") to continue riding onto Glen Eagle Rd. At the end of Glen Eagle Rd. she would've had to turn left onto Bud Hawkins Rd, which crosses over the interstate, to an area that could be described as 'near the woods' where her bike was found. There are no 'woods' so to speak, just a patch of trees on what looks like private property, alongside the interstate and Bud Hawkins Rd.

When looking at a current street view of this whole area, a LOT of it is under construction (new roadways, construction in the cloverleaf, a worksite on the east side of the overpass). Depending on if the construction workers are considered 'essential' during the pandemic, there could've been several people on work crews that saw her as she rode her bike on this unusual route. There would've been several people on the interstate who saw her riding alongside them as well.

This is the patch of trees off Bud Hawkins Rd, right before the overpass on the East side I'm referring to.

I hope they're able to find more clues as soon as possible. I don't recall if it was ever mentioned whether she had a cellphone with her, if she'd been communicating with anyone online prior to her disappearance or has any other electronic footprint that could be looked into. Hoping for the best outcome here!

MOO.
 
JMapes said:
Thank you for these super useful links!

As mentioned, the address she was seen on surveillance footage was a "dead end", but from the current street view on the google map, you can see the progress of the planned widening of the roadway. It's turned this "dead end" into an easy to access, bikeable thoroughfare that cars aren't even allowed to use yet.

My best guess is that she rode from her home, to Copart Ln, then used the closed section of the new interstate (the former "dead end") to continue riding onto Glen Eagle Rd. At the end of Glen Eagle Rd. she would've had to turn left onto Bud Hawkins Rd, which crosses over the interstate, to an area that could be described as 'near the woods' where her bike was found. There are no 'woods' so to speak, just a patch of trees on what looks like private property, alongside the interstate and Bud Hawkins Rd.

When looking at a current street view of this whole area, a LOT of it is under construction (new roadways, construction in the cloverleaf, a worksite on the east side of the overpass). Depending on if the construction workers are considered 'essential' during the pandemic, there could've been several people on work crews that saw her as she rode her bike on this unusual route. There would've been several people on the interstate who saw her riding alongside them as well.

This is the patch of trees off Bud Hawkins Rd, right before the overpass on the East side I'm referring to.

I hope they're able to find more clues as soon as possible. I don't recall if it was ever mentioned whether she had a cellphone with her, if she'd been communicating with anyone online prior to her disappearance or has any other electronic footprint that could be looked into. Hoping for the best outcome here!

MOO.
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We had talked about this earlier in the thread agreeing this looked like the most obvious “woods”, but then her mother said the bike was found on the SB side near the Falcon/Godwin Exit, (65). LE said her bike was found south of Exit 70. They may not have wanted to be specific, but technically Exit 65 is south of Exit 70. Her most likely route from home was Ammons to Long Branch to Copart Rd by Exit 71. After the dead end at Copart Rd where the video was recorded, if she had ridden or walked her bike a short ways SB she would have come to another access road, Glen Eagle, which would bring her to Bud Hawkins, Exit 70.
At this exit, there is another SB access road, Wood Rd which turns into Old Oak Lane where it dead ends. There is a small stand of trees at this dead end.
These access roads all seem to be paralleling or affected by the road construction.
After that there are at least 2 larger stands of trees on 95 SB before Exit 65.
 

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happy128 said:
14-year-old Harnett County girl found three weeks after being reported missing, deputies say
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Hallelujah! So happy to read this!
happy-spring-smiley-emoticon.gif
 
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