text: In a Tuesday press release, authorities announced missing Georgia teen Aubrey Carroll is “safe, healthy and unharmed” after returning home to his mother Monday. 
   
   Lt. Michael Morris, Aubrey Carroll, and Sheriff Darrell Dix, from left to right, during their meeting on April 17, 2018. Spalding County Sheriff's Office 
   
   “Hey, my name is Aubrey Carroll. It’s nice to see y’all,” Aubrey says in a video, posted on the Spalding County Sheriff’s Facebook page. Aubrey, 17, was last seen on May 24, 2016 at Spalding High School in Griffin, Georgia. 
   
   “I’d like to tell y’all -- thank y’all so much for all your prayers and looking out for my mama. I appreciate y’all so much,” Aubrey continues. “I’m all right. I’m OK. I’ve been smiling, and y’all should do the same.” 
   
   Captain Dwayne Jones told Dateline that investigators from the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), FBI and the Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office met with Aubrey’s parents on April 10, 2018 to brief them about the progress of the investigation. 
   
   “[We] showed them pictures of Aubrey and shared with them a Facebook page that he had launched under an assumed identity,” Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a Tuesday press release by the SCSO. “We also found out that over the time since Aubrey left he had no less than five (5) personal contacts with law enforcement agencies ranging from Alabama to Arizona under his assumed identity.” 
   
   The release said authorities had learned through the investigation that Aubrey had travelled extensively on the west coast and in the midwest, becoming “a part of a group of people who live by bartering, operating with cash only, and travelling from state to state.” 
   
   “They basically looked like a group of people from the Woodstock era in their clothing and life style,” Sheriff Dix said. 
   
   Sheriff Dix said law enforcement and Aubrey’s parents mutually decided not to reach out to the teen until he had another encounter with law enforcement for fear that Aubrey would disappear again. Since he is now 17 years old, and no longer a juvenile, there was no lawful way to force him to come back to Georgia. 
   
   Aubrey Caroll Spalding County Sheriff's Office 
   
   “He had a support group that he was with and all indications were that he was happy and was thriving,” the release says. “He did not appear to be in any danger.” 
   
   Following that meeting, though, the release says that one of Aubrey’s family members decided to reach out to him anyway. 
   
   “One of those family members went out on a limb and sent Aubrey a message and Aubrey responded. That family member explained what was happening and was able to convince Aubrey to call his mother,” Sheriff Dix said. “Aubrey called his mother and told her that he was ready to come home; however there were certain conditions that he wanted in place such as who he would talk to and where he would go when he got home.” 
   
   Aubrey’s mom contacted authorities Monday night to say Aubrey was safe and with her. Lt. Mike Morris and Sheriff Dix met with Aubrey the next morning to talk about his disappearance. 
   
   “He told us that he left on his own, and had not been abducted, hurt, abused, exploited, or harmed in any way,” Sheriff Dix said in the release. “We sat for quite a bit of time with him and listened to his story. His tale was absolutely amazing. He has seen and done things that make your jaw drop.” 
   
   In June 2017, about one year after Aubrey’s disappearance, Dateline spoke to Aubrey’s father, Michael Carroll, who recalled taking his son to the bus stop for school on the morning of May 24, 2016. 
   
   “I dropped him off that morning and everything seemed fine,” Michael told Dateline. 
   
   When Aubrey’s stepmother Leah went to pick him up from the bus stop that afternoon, however, he wasn’t there. After attempting to contact some of Aubrey’s friends on social media, Michael reported him missing. 
   
   Investigators from the Spalding County Sheriff’s office told Dateline that had Aubrey left school that afternoon with his friend David Rutledge. The next morning he reportedly showed up at his friend Camron McCree’s house, but was not allowed to stay there. In June of 2017, Aubrey’s family told Dateline that Camron’s mother had said she asked Aubrey to leave when she learned his parents were looking for him. 
   
   He then reportedly asked friends for a ride to the nearest Flying J Truck Stop. Investigators say he was in contact with friends in Gary, Georgia on May 26th, but no one had seen or heard from him since. 
   
   When Aubrey first disappeared, his father and investigators believed that he would likely return on his own. But when time passed and Darrell Dix took over as Spalding County Sheriff in January 2017, Aubrey’s family contacted him about the case. Aubrey was even listed on the FBI’s missing persons site and was believed to be endangered. 
   
   “We decided to go back to the beginning and re-interview the witnesses, re-investigate any clues and completely rebuild the case,” Sheriff Dix told Dateline in June of 2017. 
   
   A new investigator, Todd Hendrix, was also assigned to the case. While investigators told Dateline they had no reason to suspect foul play, the Sheriff’s Department offered a $5,000 reward for anyone who could put them in contact with Aubrey. 
   
   “Initially, we believed he ran away,” Sheriff Dix said. “But then we don’t know what happened.” 
   
   Now, authorities and family members are just glad to know Aubrey is safe. 
   
   “How the story ended doesn’t matter, who gets credit doesn’t matter,” Sheriff Dix said. “Aubrey’s family, supported by friends and the tenacity of the investigators working on this case saw this through to the end. What matters is that he is safe, healthy and unharmed.” 
   
   Aubrey Carroll was previously featured in Dateline's Cold Case Spotlight series. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — A teen missing from a south metro community has been found nearly two years later. 
   
   On Tuesday, the Spalding County Sheriff's Office announced on Facebook that 17-year-old Aubrey Carroll has been found. 
   
   "Missing person Aubrey Jayce Carroll...Alive and well. Case Closed," the sheriff posted on Facebook, along with a photo of the smiling teen.According to the sheriff's office, Carroll was 15-years-old when he went missing. 11Alive's sister-station in Macon WMAZ said the teen was reported missing after he didn't return home from Spalding County High School on May 26, 2016. 
   
   After more nearly two years of searching, though, he was found. 
   
   In a video shared by the Spalding County Sheriff's Office, Carroll can be seen waving, saying "I'm alright, I'm OK." 
   
   "I'd like to thank y'all so much for all your prayers and looking out for my mama," he said. "I appreciate y'all so much." 
   
   In a press release from the Spalding County Sheriff's Office, the discovery of Carroll was a joint effort with the FBI and Texas Rangers. 
   
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   Sheriff Darrell Dix stated after a recent brief with Carroll's parents, officials showed them a Facebook page that Carroll had launched under an assumed identity. 
   
   Dix told Carroll's parents that since the teen left, he had no less than five personal contacts with law enforcement agencies that ranged from Alabama to Arizona. 
   
   "He traveled extensively on the west coast and midwest. During this time, he became a part of a group of people who live by bartering, operating with cash only, and traveling from state to state," Sheriff Dix said in the statement. "They basically looked like a group of people from the Woodstock era in their clothing and lifestyle.” 
   
   Sheriff Dix stated that a family member was able to get Carroll in contact with his mother so he could ultimately return home to Georgia. 
   
   "These messages occurred over several days, and we allowed Aubrey to pick a location where he felt safe. Last night I received a call that Aubrey was with his mom and was safe. He agreed to meet with me and Lt. Mike Morris so we could question him about why and how he disappeared, and basic questions about his wellbeing and safety," Dix continued in the statement. 
   
   Sheriff Dix said Carroll's story is "absolutely amazing" but ultimately "how the story ended doesn't matter" and "who gets credit doesn't matter." 
   
   Dix finished saying both Carroll and his mother wanted to send a message to those who are missing a loved one. 
   
   "Keep praying, keep looking, and keep your faith," Dix wrote. "Miracles happen." 
   
   Meanwhile, in the Facebook Live, Carroll expressed that he is happy to be home. 
   
   "I've been smiling, and y'all should do the same," he said.
target: – A Georgia teen who failed to return home from school nearly two years ago has resurfaced in the state with a new look. Aubrey Jayce Carroll, who turned 17 in January, appeared alongside Spalding Sheriff Darrell Dix in a video posted to Facebook Tuesday, sporting long hair and a beard, reports the Macon Telegraph. Though the formerly well-groomed teen didn't detail where he's been since leaving his Griffin home in May 2016, Dix says Aubrey "traveled extensively on the West Coast and Midwest" after joining a group of people who barter and use only cash. "They basically looked like a group of people from the Woodstock era in their clothing and lifestyle," Dix notes in a press release, per 11Alive, adding Aubrey encountered police, including in Alabama and Alaska, at least five times during his travels. Just last year, Dix said Aubrey's family was "tortured by the lack of information" about the missing teen. That changed last Tuesday, when authorities met with his parents and showed them a Facebook page Aubrey was using under a different name, reports NBC News. The group decided not to contact the teen for fear he'd go dark again (due to his age, he couldn't be forced to return home), opting to wait until he had another encounter with police. But one relative "went out on a limb" and messaged him anyway and apparently convinced Aubrey to contact his mother. He told her he was ready to come home so long as certain conditions were met regarding who he saw and where he went. Though much of his time away remains a mystery, Dix says Aubrey's "tale was absolutely amazing. He has seen and done things that make your jaw drop." (Another missing Georgia teen was found using Snapchat.)