Missing Lima teen found safe

LIMA — For four months, Bridgitte Edwards has been praying that her teenage daughter would be found safe and unharmed. On Friday, her prayers were answered.

Edwards’ daughter, Princess Kennedy, was picked up early Friday by Lima Police Department officers during a traffic stop. On Monday, she was still in the custody of the police and in some trouble, but her mother is very aware the situation could be worse.

“I’m very, very, very happy that she is safe. I feel blessed,” Edwards said.

Kennedy went missing Oct. 18, when she ran away from Safe Harbor runaway shelter. Police and family members have been searching for her since. They long suspected she had been staying with another family in town, but despite questioning by police and numerous news stories, the 17-year-old managed to stay hidden.

Last week, as investigators dug at an Elizabeth Street home for bones many suspect belong to another missing teenager, Nicholle Coppler, Edwards’ fears for her own daughter mounted.

“Yes, she’s with the police, but she’s safe and I know where she’s at. The situation could have been much, much worse. It could have been another Nicholle Coppler, ” Edwards said.

Kennedy was picked up in a car with members of the family she had been staying with, Edwards said. Lima Police Department Juvenile Investigator Tiffany Najmulski said she had previously interviewed the people the girl was staying with, but they claimed they did not know where she was.

“She was with some people who I had questioned before and who obviously were not forthcoming about what they knew. They may be charged for that in the future,” Najmulski said.

Edwards said she plans to seek professional help to deal with the issues that caused her daughter to run away in the first place. In the meantime, she would like to see charges pressed against the family that housed her, if not for the fear and stress they caused the mother, for the potential damage done to Kennedy’s future.

“She won’t even be able to graduate from Lima Senior this year. She’s a smart girl who made some bad decisions. They really helped her mess up her life,” Edwards said. “The people involved in helping this runaway, they should be brought to justice to the full extent of the law. Nobody should do something like this to a mother.”