Missing Teen Found in St. Petersburg Eight Years After Vanishing from Hospital

In late 2016, a woman filed a police report about the disappearance of her 16-year-old daughter, who had been hospitalized in a children’s hospital for a scheduled surgery.

According to investigators, the girl deleted her social media accounts, took a jacket from a roommate, and left the hospital, abandoning all of her belongings and documents.

Investigators considered several possibilities, including an accidental drowning in a nearby body of water — divers searched the area, but found nothing. Friends and classmates of the missing girl told investigators that she had been upset with her relatives for not congratulating her on her birthday.

On June 2, the missing woman was finally flagged by a search system in Sestroretsk. She was summoned by investigators and explained that she had run away due to family disagreements and a desire to avoid the surgery. Until reaching adulthood, she secretly lived with a friend.