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. 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,” Aubrey continues. “[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. “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. 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. Aubrey was even listed on the FBI’s missing persons site and was believed to be endangered. 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."
– 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.)