Missing Teen Spotted In Snohomish County
Firefighters at Station 90 in Bryant, 4-miles north of Arlington, say Elaine Sepulveda walked to their fire station about 4 p.m. Wednesday. The firefighters hadn't seen any of the news reports and didn't know she was considered missing.
"Fire crews said that she was kind of trying to avoid their questions and was maybe trying to hide something," said Fire Department Spokesman Nathan Trauernicht. "Maybe not being completely truthful about what had happened up to that point."
The firefighters say she was tired, cold, and hungry and claimed she'd been walking for several hours after being dropped off by her boyfriend. She stayed at the fire station for about an hour and a half and made several calls on the fire station phone.
She said she was trying to reach her boyfriend again. She accepted hot chocolate from the fire crew but declined offers for help and left on foot walking toward Arlington.
Later that night the firefighters recognized her picture from TV news reports and alerted authorities.
The focus of the search, which up until now had been in Oak Harbor, has moved to the Arlington area.
She apparently did not use a telephone make any attempt to contact her family back on Whidbey Island.