Update: 11-Year-Old Pays Arkansas Cabbie $1,300 for Ride to Florida

Update Dec. 15, 7:20 p.m.: The Yellow Cab Company in Little Rock, Ark., has agreed to refund the money the 11-year-old girl paid for a ride to Jacksonville, Local 15 TV is reporting.

Earlier:

An 11-year-old girl’s joyride to Florida to meet up with a 16-year-old boy got sidelined in Georgia when her parents reported her missing.

The girl from Bryant, Ark., is said to have paid a cabbie $1,300 for the ride to Jacksonville, First Coast News is reporting. The child got the money to pay the cab by swiping it from her grandmother, ABC news reported.

With cash in hand, she hailed a cab in Little Rock on Dec. 5, Chron reported.

It seems the boy had no idea of the girl’s plans, the news outlets reported.

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As for the cabbie, he thought she was older due to a heavy makeup job, WINK reported. That cabbie won’t face disciplinary charges, but the girl has had her cellphone and makeup taken away, the paper reported.

An estimated 1.6 million to 2.8 million youth run away each year in America, according to the National Runaway Safeline. Girls and boys are equally likely to run away, the nonprofit reports, but girls are more likely to seek out help from hotlines or shelters.

The National Runaway Safeline was founded in 1971 in the Chicago area and became a national hotline in 1974. Youth in crisis can now call the agency’s 1-800-RUNAWAY number 24 hours a day to receive assistance. The agency fields about 100,000 calls a year.

Patch file photo