Aiken runaway 15-year-old found safe at Georgia home

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Aiken Department of Public Safety has canceled an alert for a runaway 15-year-old.

Aiden Conaster had last been seen on Wednesday around 6:45 a.m. in the 600 block of Cardinal Drive SW.

Around 7 a.m. Monday, he was found at a home in Rabun County, Ga.

Investigators followed leads and received information on his whereabouts, and ed local authorities for assistance.

The Rabun County Sheriff’s Office made at the residence and Aiden was located. Aiden appears to be in good health, and has been transported to a local medical facility for further evaluation.

“The Aiken Department of Public Safety would like to extend a large amount of appreciation to our community for their concern and information that was provided to us throughout this investigation,” the agency said.

The outpouring of on Facebook was overwhelming- all parts of the group “Bring Aiden Conaster Home”.

Hundreds searched and showed their for his safe return.

We spoke with the organizer of a Facebook page that blew up with people working to find Conaster.

The community came together to search for him, but police found him about three hours from home.

The Aiken Department of Public Safety says when searching locally didn’t produce any results, they followed every lead and tip they had to find Conaster.

Officers said they were assisted by Rabun County Sheriff’s Office, South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Aiken County Sheriff’s Office.

As Friday night and Saturday morning came along, they received information they were able to follow up on and realized Conaster wasn’t in Aiken.

The Aiken Department of Public Safety says even though Conaster has been found and is safe, the investigation into what happened isn’t over.

“We are starting a criminal investigation to see who was helping him, how they helped him, why they helped him, and once our investigation is complete, we will go talk to our solicitor and there’s a possibility that someone or several people may be charged with assisting him,” said Captain Marty Sawyer.

Authorities say that Conaster appears to be healthy. He is being evaluated at Augusta University.

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