UPDATE
Missing Highland Park teen returns home
Last updated at: 11:21 AM, Feb 22, 2009
(HIGHLAND PARK) A teen track star missing since she went for a run Friday afternoon outside Deerfield High School returned to her Highland Park home late Saturday night, police said.
Caroline Stitcher, 17, was taken to Highland Park Hospital for a medical check-up, but no information on her condition was released.
Thousands of volunteers and several police units had been feverishly searching for the missing girl since she was last seen at the 1959 Waukegan Rd., school around 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Karen Stitcher of Highland Park said she last spoke with her daughter right before she headed off to school that morning.
The worried mother said that at the time of her disappearance, Caroline was with teammates as they prepared for varsity track practice and was later seen going on a solitary run near the school.
"Caroline has never done anything like this before," her mother said of the varsity cross- country and track athlete. Explaining why her daughter did not run with her other teammates, the mother said, "She just runs at a different pace."
Last September, Caroline finished in fourth-place in the 14-team Lake County Invitational cross-country race.
Karen Stitcher said the girl always displayed a great attitude and never showed any signs of emotional or physical problems.
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