Missing Indiana Teen Allegedly Taken By Grandma And Aunt, Found In Florida

A 14-year-old Indiana girl who has been missing since April was found in Florida last week. Police arrested two of her relatives after the pair allegedly brought the teen to the state so she could be with her boyfriend.

Aaliyah Ramirez was found safe in the area of Lake Worth Beach in Palm Beach County Friday, WANE 15 reported, citing the Syracuse Police Department.

She was last seen leaving her home on Parkway Drive in Syracuse, Indiana, on the morning of April 27 and was reported missing a short time later, a report by WPBF 25 said.

Members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) were able to recover Ramirez after they spotted her getting into a vehicle.

Ramirez's 47-year-old grandmother, identified as Palm Beach County resident Elizabeth Sands, and her 25-year-old aunt, Allissa Sands, of Marion County, Indiana, were taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and deputies on warrants from Kosciusko County.

The two are pending extradition to Kosciusko County over charges of felony interference with custody and misdemeanor false informing.

Anthony Ramirez, Aaliyah's father who recently won full custody of the teen, reportedly suspected that the Sands were responsible for his daughter's disappearance.

The two allegedly "formulated a plan to pick up Aaliyah and take her back to Florida so she could be with her boyfriend," according to an affidavit.

Ashli Aspy, who claimed to be Aaliyah’s mother, alleged that Allissa and Elizabeth had kept the teen “in a hotel this entire time and [concealed] her identity with a blonde wig, glasses and face mask,” according to a report by the Palm Beach Post.

Allissa was allegedly contacted by police on April 27 following Aaliyah’s disappearance, but she denied knowing her whereabouts.

Police reportedly spotted Aaliyah on a Florida mall's surveillance footage in July wearing a disguise while she was shopping with Elizabeth and her boyfriend.

Aaliyah was placed in a juvenile detention center in West Palm Beach, according to her uncle, Alex Ramirez. He said she is "a little shaken up but is OK."

"As of right now, the judges just want to confirm with the judges up in Indiana, about my niece and her well-being, who she’s gonna be with, what kind of mental evaluations need to take place, and things along that nature of making sure she is in the best mental state that she can be in," Alex said.