Bella Matute is Back Home in Staten Island

Missing teen back on Staten Island by Staten Island Advance Monday November 19, 2007, 2:45 PM

A 14-year-old girl from the Port Richmond section of Staten Island who disappeared on her way to school on Nov. 9 is now home safely, according to police. Bella Matute, a student at Egbert Intermediate School in Midland Beach, re-emerged over the weekend, after her father learned she was in North Carolina and picked her up there, an NYPD spokesman said today. “It’s something that is too painful to talk about,” her father told the Advance yesterday. “You can’t imagine how I felt when she came back. I felt like it was a gift from God.” He wouldn’t elaborate about her disappearance or return, saying that he needed to talk with police first. — Contributed by John Annese

This young girl apparently met an adult on the internet. Why couldn’t he find an adult? I hope they prosecute him.