McHenry Teen, Wisconsin Girl Located Safe In Georgia: Police

MCHENRY, IL – A 16-year-old McHenry teen and a 16-year-old Wisconsin girl who had been missing since Friday have been located safe in Georgia, a McHenry County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Alexander Rogers of McHenry and Katherine Heimann of Gratiot, Wisconsin, were reported missing early Friday morning and had not been detected since the boy's cell phone was tracked to a Wisconsin campground where he and the girl had met.

Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill confirmed that the two teens were located safe on Wednesday morning and that parents were notified of their whereabouts. Gill said he does not know what prompted the two teens to travel to Georgia.

Sandra Rogers, the McHenry County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman, said in an email that the two teens were located by a local law enforcement agency in Georgia. No further information is available at this time.

Rogers' mother, Jessica, told the Northwest Herald that she and her husband discovered their son missing on Friday, when she found a note saying he planned to return home. Jessica Rogers told the paper that she found that his vehicle was missing and that the teenager had lined up pillows in his bed to make it appear he was in bed.

According to a news release issued last week by the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department, Rogers left his residence in McHenry and picked Heimann up at her home just south of Gratiot, Wisconsin between 2:30 and 2:45 a.m. on Friday. Jessica Rogers also filed a missing person's report with the McHenry County Sheriff's Department on Friday.

"There is no reason at this time to believe Katherine went against her will, however she didn't appear to take many personal belongings with her, including her cell phone," police said in a news release. "Family and friends have reason to believe her safety will be more in jeopardy the longer that she is away from home."

Police said that Alexander Rogers is driving a 2000 Ford Ranger with Illinois plates and that it is believed that he and Heimann have connections to a vacation property in Hayward, Wisconsin. The boy's mother told the Northwest Herald that her son - who will be a junior at McHenry East High School – deals with anger and anxiety issues normally answers the phone when she calls.

She also said he had been grounded for meeting up with friends without letting her parents know but that the punishment was to have been lifted on Saturday, the newspaper reported.

"I just want to know he's alive," Jessica Rogers told the Northwest Herald. "And it's safe to come home. He's not in trouble."