Missing Lakota 8th grader found hiding in apartment

A Liberty Twp. eighth grader reported missing Thursday night has been found safe, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Department.

Laniya Johnson, 14, was found Tuesday afternoon hiding under a bed at a residence in Lakota Pointe apartments, said Lt. Rick Bucheit.

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Rachel Johnson reported her daughter, Laniya Johnson, missing after she failed to return home while walking a short distance from a family friend’s house at Lakota Pointe apartments to her own residence in the same complex.

The Liberty Junior High student ran away in May with a boy who also lives in the complex, according to Johnson. The teen’s friends had said she was also with him this time.

On Monday, Rachel Johnson told this news outlet, “I am 100 percent positive he as well as his mother know where she is.”

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Bucheit said Johnson was taken to Butler County Juvenile Detention Center. There was a warrant out for her detention through juvenile court for an alleged probation violation.

Lakota Local Schools Superintendent Matt Miller on Saturday morning went to Twitter to seek help from people in the Lakota community.

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