INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – The father of a Grain Valley girl who was missing for nearly 24 hours thanked God and the Independence Police Department Thursday for helping bring her home safely.
“Last night was emotional,” Gary Green said. His daughter, 16-year-old Makenzie Green was found around 5:40 a.m. Thursday. She had not been seen or heard from since around 7:30 the previous morning.
“I want to thank God,” Makenzie’s father told the media in a news conference held with Independence police. “The power of prayer and the Independence Police Department is what made this happen.”
Details of Makenzie’s whereabouts are still sketchy. Her vehicle was found Wednesday in an Independence parking lot with her cell phone and her wallet inside.
Independence Police Sgt. Dennis Green said he had not personally talked to Makenzie since she was found, but did reaffirm that during the search, they were “operating under the assumption [they] were looking for so meone who wasn’t willingly with someone else.”
Sgt. Green said investigators had yet to be determined if any charges would be filed in the case.
Independence Police issued an AMBER Alert for Makenzie Wednesday afternoon, but the alert was never posted on the
Missouri AMBER Alert online portal.
Sgt. Green said the Independence Police Department followed the protocol of working cooperatively with the Kansas City Police Department to alert the proper authorities and have the information posted to the appropriate places.
See AMBER Alert Guidelines“If there was a flaw,” Green said, “We’ll look into it.”
