July 28--St. Charles residents' unwavering dedication to finding Emily Czajkowski, the 14-year-old girl reported missing in St. Charles after being dropped off for a dance class last week, broadened into a community-wide movement that police say helped ultimately locate her.
Hundreds of volunteers gathered on two separate occasions to pass out flyers of Emily's picture and drape ribbons across the city. Purple plastic cups were pushed through the holes of a park fence to form a heart symbol, and the words "Emily C."
A Facebook page dedicated to her search reached 17,000 followers during the six days she was missing, and a GoFund Me page for the family raised $1,340.
"It was an outreach that kind of took on a life of its own through Facebook," said Steve Huffman, deputy chief of administration for the St. Charles police department. "Residents coordinated the efforts to get the word out, put up flyers and hung up ribbons all over downtown to get her face out there. And that generated tips."
Emily was found Tuesday morning at a friend's home nearby, police said. The friend's mother contacted police when she discovered Emily was staying at her house with her son, police said in a news release. Police determined Emily was not a victim of any criminal acts, and she was safely reunited with her parents.
Emily was dropped off for her dance class at the Pottawatomie Community Center Wednesday about 6:35 p.m., but never attended the class and couldn't be found in the immediate area. Video surveillance later showed her leaving the building while talking on her cell phone, police said.
She had also posted a message to her friends on social media that stated she intended to hurt herself by unknown means, but the message was quickly deleted. She made no further contact with anyone after posting the message, police said.
She was last spotted between 7 and 8 p.m. near West Main Street and South 14th Street, police said.
More than 100 volunteers helped get the word out about Emily's search, Huffman said. Volunteers organized to put out flyers and ribbons at two gatherings, one in Pottawatomie Park on Friday, and one at Forever Yogurt on West Main Street on Monday.
"We had a lot of offers for more assistance, but there wasn't any indication of foul play, so there was just no work we could give them," Huffman said.
Though it was speaking with friends of Emily and her family that led police to locating her, Huffman said resident efforts helped bring in a flood of tips. Police received 25 phone tips and 10 to 15 email tips regarding her possible whereabouts, he said.
