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A missing 11-year-old girl was found safe around 7:30 a.m. Friday at her home in Lithia Springs. Nickeya Gause emailed her mom after an all-night police search to say she had been at home the whole time. Nickeya was last seen Thursday around 4 p.m. getting off of her school bus at El Paso Road and Santa Fe Trail in southwest Atlanta. She had only a block to walk to her grandmother's home on Omaha, but never showed.
Overnight, Atlanta Police searched the area around Nickeya's school, Ralph J. Bunche Middle School. Friends and family canvassed the neighborhood and handed out pictures. "She's never run off. She's a very good child. She's in the gifted program. She makes straight A's every year. She's a great child," said Allesha Bettis, Nickeya's mom.
Nickeya's grandmother said the sixth-grader texted her mom this morning to tell her she was safe. She said she walked four hours from the bus stop at her grandmother's in southwest Atlanta to her home in Lithia Springs, an estimated 12 miles, because of an argument with her mom earlier in the day. She said she slept in the home's basement.
Police never searched the home, but family members made several overnight visits there and didn't see her. She texted her mom she was safe when she woke up Friday morning and saw the extensive news coverage of her disappearance.
Captain Stacie Gibbs with the Atlanta Police Department said Special Victims Unit detectives want to hear from anyone who may have seen Nickeya walking or had contact with her overnight. She said they "don't necessarily not believe" her story, but they weren't convinced something else hadn't happened either.
Updates on the Travon Martin' Murder case:
George Zimmerman Pleads Not Guilty To Trayvon MartinMurder Charges free and hidingA missing 11-year-old girl was found safe around 7:30 a.m. Friday at her home in Lithia Springs. Nickeya Gause emailed her mom after an all-night police search to say she had been at home the whole time. Nickeya was last seen Thursday around 4 p.m. getting off of her school bus at El Paso Road and Santa Fe Trail in southwest Atlanta. She had only a block to walk to her grandmother's home on Omaha, but never showed.
Overnight, Atlanta Police searched the area around Nickeya's school, Ralph J. Bunche Middle School. Friends and family canvassed the neighborhood and handed out pictures. "She's never run off. She's a very good child. She's in the gifted program. She makes straight A's every year. She's a great child," said Allesha Bettis, Nickeya's mom.
Police never searched the home, but family members made several overnight visits there and didn't see her. She texted her mom she was safe when she woke up Friday morning and saw the extensive news coverage of her disappearance.
Captain Stacie Gibbs with the Atlanta Police Department said Special Victims Unit detectives want to hear from anyone who may have seen Nickeya walking or had contact with her overnight. She said they "don't necessarily not believe" her story, but they weren't convinced something else hadn't happened either.
Updates on the Travon Martin' Murder case:
George Zimmerman was a no-show in a Florida court today as his lawyer entered a plea of not guilty to second degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
His expected absence came as Zimmerman's attorney waived his right to a speedy trial, saying he "needs additional time to prepare" for the high-profile case.
In Florida, a defendant is entitled a trial within 175 days of being charged, but Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara has told ABC News he would try to prolong the process to allow racial tensions and the emotion associated with the case to subside.
Zimmerman, who was a member of a neighborhood watch group in Sanford, Fla., will be tried for the Feb. 26 shooting death of Martin. He ould be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Zimmerman, 28, remains in hiding and free on bail, but his whereabouts are being monitored by authorities through a GPS ankle device. His living expenses are being covered by the $200,000 accrued over 22 days in March in April in his paypal account. O'Mara later closed that account and set up an independent account overseen by a third party.
Zimmerman, his attorney, and the lead prosecutors in the case are preparing for the discovery part of trial preparation. The disclosure by the prosecution of all relevant documents in this case could come as early as his week. Much of it will be redacted in order to protect the identity of witnesses.
Zimmerman's attorney tells ABC News that he is expecting to be inundated with thousands of documents related to the case. Included in the files are expected to be hundreds sent to the Sanford, Fla., police department about the case, some of them apparently racist in nature.
