Missing Colorado Teen Found Safe in Venice

Raven Cassidy Furlong left Aurora, Colo. in February and told police Friday she did not want to return home

A Colorado teenager who had been reported missing was found safe in Venice Friday afternoon, police said.

Raven Cassidy Furlong, 18, had left Aurora, Colo. on Feb. 5 and was reported missing by her family.

Police received a tip that she was sighted in Venice Beach, where officers found her "waiting in line with some friends, some other people for a TV shoot," said Sgt. Daniel Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Division.

Approached on Friday evening by a news photographer, Furlong said she was OK.

"I'm fine," she said. "Everybody can leave me alone because I've been fine and I am fine."

Police say they asked her to return to the station with them for questioning, and she complied.

“We approached Miss Furlong, she admitted she was the one in the flyers and she was a runaway,” Gonzalez said. “She explained she was not in any type of danger, and she was out here voluntarily. We didn’t find any signs of foul play or any criminal activity on her part or anybody she'd been dealing with out here."

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Police say they notified Furlong’s parents that she had been found safe, and they said she told them she did not want to return to Colorado.

She was removed from the missing persons list, Gonzalez said.

"She's 18. She's an adult. She appeared to have all of her faculties, and she didn't appear to be under the influence of any alcohol or drugs. She didn't appear to be given us any type of coerced statements," he said.

A Facebook page created to help find Furlong said that she was a victim, and that her parents had pleaded with police to release her to them.

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