14-year-old Yorba Linda girl with special needs found safe after going missing for 5 days

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (KABC) -- A 14-year-old girl who disappeared from her Yorba Linda home has been found safe after she went missing for five days.

Valanitta Jingles, the mother of Nya Jingles, thanked the Orange County Sheriff's Department and others who joined in the search for her missing daughter. She added that her daughter had gotten lost.

"Nya has been located, is safe and will be returned home to her family," the sheriff's department tweeted Tuesday evening. "Thank you to the community for sharing her information."

Valanitta Jingles told Eyewitness News her child went missing last Thursday night. The family says Nya has developmental disabilities and was in need of her medication.

"This is not a juvenile runaway. This is a lost baby who needs to come home so her mom and dad can take care of her like we're supposed to," Valanitta Jingles said before her daughter was found.

Jingles says her daughter is diagnosed with intellectual disability, is on the autism spectrum and functions like an 8-year-old.

"She hasn't had meds in five days, so she has to be incoherent by now and going through withdrawals because she takes Risperdal," Jingles said.

The mother says her family last saw Nya in their backyard after a basketball game. She says her daughter was caught talking to boys online without permission and was put on what they call "quiet time."

The Orange County Sheriff's Department received the missing person's report early Friday morning.

The search intensified as investigators learned more about the missing teen.

"Some of those resources include our Air Support Unit, our Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center, our Investigations Bureau and our Public Affairs Office, who has been utilizing social media to ask for the public's help and also our search and rescue staff," said OCSD Capt. Cory Martino.

Neighbors stepped in to help by posting flyers and spreading the word.

The family had asked people in the area to check their surveillance cameras, and to contact the Orange County Sheriff's Department if they have any information. Investigators can be reached at (714) 647-7000.