A tense search for a missing 12-year-old Gainesville girl ended better than it began on Friday.
When Ashley Breanna Mosley simply walked out of Bull Run Middle School just after 10 a.m., police began searching the Gainesville area with a full complement of patrol officers, a mounted patrol unit and search dogs.
In addition to the manpower on the ground, Virginia State Police helicopters were called to help search for the girl, and hovered above the school for most of the afternoon.
Police were concerned because Ashley is a special needs student who also has a medical condition, said Prince William police spokeswoman Erika Hernandez.
But after nearly five hours of searching, Ashley was found unharmed on a nearby golf course.
"She was found by a citizen who then immediately notified police," said Hernandez.
Police took the girl into custody and no charges were filed in the incident.
Neighbors who live near Ashley said this isn't the first time she has been reported missing.
Bret Gregory said police were at his door about month ago asking if he had seen the girl.
"I think she is diabetic, because the officers told us she hadn't had her insulin that day," said Gregory.
Hernandez confirmed that Friday's incident was not an isolated one.
Before police found Ashley, concerned neighbors from the nearby Heritage Hunt neighborhood mobilized a makeshift search party at the school.
"We are obviously concerned, and this is the thing that you do when you are a part of a community," said Julian Cole, a Gainesville resident.
Cole and his group of nine neighbors said they were ready to search into the evening if police needed them to.
Caryl Dawson, also a member of the search group, said they mobilized over the winter during a massive gas leak in their neighborhood.
"We walked door to door to help people understand what was happening," said Dawson.
Ashley's case is reminiscent of 13-year-old Alexis Glover, who was reported missing in January from the Central Library in Manassas.
Alexis was found dead two days later in a Woodbridge creek, miles away from the library.
Her adoptive mother, 44-year-old Alfreedia Glover, has been charged with murder and child abuse in that case.
Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.
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