A 16-year-old Florida girl who disappeared from her home in the early hours of July 31 has been found safe in New Jersey, authorities confirmed. Sophia Veronica Cover was located nearly two weeks after she was last seen on surveillance footage leaving her Naples residence.
Her father, Richard Cover, confirmed the news, stating that his daughter was found at a friend's house in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He expressed profound relief and gratitude as he traveled to pick her up.
"Today, I’m sitting on a plane, bringing Sophia home," Cover shared on social media. "After everything that has happened, just being able to look over and see her sitting beside me is something I will never take for granted."
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the FBI, located Cover. Her father indicated that his daughter had been interviewed by the FBI. He shared that initial information suggested the disappearance might have been a case of teenagers leaving to spend time together, rather than a more sinister event. "All the bad things that I thought were happening and could happen, it sounds like just some teenagers deciding that they were smarter than everybody else and decided to go hang out together for a few days, then it turned into 11," he said in a social media video.
Cover thanked the community for their support, including those who shared flyers, created videos, and offered prayers during the anxious period. He also specifically acknowledged the efforts of Detective Marisol Rodriguez and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office for their work on the case.
Cover had previously expressed fears that his daughter might be in danger, telling Gulf Coast News Now, "I think that she left the house because someone either convinced her to, or promised her something and I think that she's in trouble right now. I think someone has my daughter, is what I believe."
Sophia Cover had lived with her father in Pennsylvania since 2014 and moved with him to Florida just four months prior to her disappearance. Her father stated that while he was upset about her running away, he was relieved she remained safe and acknowledged that "kids make mistakes."