The missing 18-year-old Chicago student was found after 11 days search

An 18-year-old university student, reportedly missing for almost two weeks, has been found safe. She told the police she was "never missing" at all.

Shalyha Ahmad walked into the 22nd District station on Thursday morning and told police officers she was the teenager they were looking for, said the Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Speaking with The Chicago Tribune, Guglielmi added:

"She indicated that she was safe, she was never missing and she was never in any harm."

Fox News reports that Shalyha’s reappearance comes a day after her parents held a news conference, seeking the public’s help in locating their missing daughter. The couple had not seen her since December 14 when they dropped her off at a train station in Chicago.

The University of Illinois freshman was supposed to meet up with her parents later that night, but when she didn’t show up, they began to worry.

Her mother, Shetti Fatima Ahmad explained:

“We were supposed to meet at 6:30 p.m. because we told her we were going to pick her up from school. She did not arrive at our meeting place and that’s when we got worried.”

After contacting the University police, Shalyha’s parents were advised to call the Chicago Police Department.

Shetti and the rest of the family could not reach the liberal arts major on the phone or social media. They had no idea where exactly Shalyha went missing until one friend informed Shetti that she saw the teen that day on campus.

The mother told NBC 5 at the time that her daughter had never done something like this before, but both parents admitted they were urging Shalyha to pursue nursing instead of her current major.

The Chicago Police Department has now announced that it will be closing the “missing person” case. Guglielmi said in a tweet:

“The missing UIC student featured in recent news reports stopped into a #ChicagoPolice district and indicated she was safe and never missing. CPDs missing person case will be closed.”

A TRAGIC ENDING

Unlike Shalyha’s, another missing student case earlier this year did not end so well. 20-year-old college student, Mollie Tibbetts went missing in mid-July after going for a jog in her Brooklyn neighborhood.

A nationwide search for Mollie lasted more than one month, but the young lady was eventually found dead.