Jean Berlinghoff Found: Missing Teen Found a Month Later with Uncle in San Francisco
NEW YORK (CBS) Jean Berlinghoff, the 15-year-old California girl who disappeared last month allegedly with her uncle, is safe at home after being spotted by a cousin outside a San Francisco supermarket, but questions linger about what happened during the 31 days she was missing.
Jean was last seen Nov. 10, at her father's house, with her uncle Charles Berlinghoff who was visiting from Los Angeles.
Jake Berlighoff, Jean's father, says the family is just happy to have her back and wants to give her time to heal before they delve into the why and how of her disappearance, according to the Redding Record Searchlight.
"At this point we are just glad that she's home," Jacob Berlinghoff said.
But Jean has revealed some details of her travels which included jumping trains and eating out of dumpsters, according to the paper. Jake Berlinghoff said that Jean told him they would go to soup kitchens for hand-out meals and at one point she was so hungry that she ate a slug just to have something in her stomach, according to the paper.
According to Jake Berlinghoff, Jean and her uncle Charles Berlinghoff started their month-long journey by jumping on a northbound train after abandoning Charles Burlinghoff's car just outside Redding, Calif., and rode in an open boxcar to Portland, Ore., over 400 miles away, the Redding Record Searchlight reports.
From there the pair apparently befriended another man who eventually drove them down to San Francisco where they were eventually discovered, Detective Sgt. John Hubbard of the Shasta County Sheriff's Office told the Record Searchlight.
Hubbard said that the driver was detained but that he doesn't believe the man knew that Jean was the subject of a massive missing person search, or that Charles Berlinghoff was wanted in connection with her disappearance, the paper reported.
Charles Berlinghoff was arrested Saturday after a relative spotted him with his niece, Jean, on a San Francisco street. He's being held on $1 million bail.
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November 29, 2010 - Jean Marie Berlinghoff Missing: Police Searching for Calif. Teen, Uncle Last Seen Nov. 10