Amber alert canceled, news conference to come after Triangle area child found safe

An Amber Alert for a missing teenage girl was canceled after 15-year-old Azalea Strifler was found safe Thursday.

Strifler was found early Thursday morning in Dare County, more than 100 miles from her home in Harnett County, officials said. Members of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Kitty Hawk Police Department and the Dare County and Harnett County sheriff’s offices assisted in the search.

Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats will host a news conference at 3 p.m. Thursday, according to a Facebook post. Officials have not said if Strifler was found with anyone else or if they believe she disappeared of her own volition.

In a public Facebook post Tuesday night, the girl’s mother said she had last been seen at 6:15 a.m. that day.

“We believe she was picked up from near our house in Spring Lake,” she wrote. “She is believed to be in imminent danger.”

Harnett County is south of Wake County, between Raleigh and Fayetteville.

“Amber Alerts are activated in the most serious child-abduction cases,” according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “The goal of an Amber Alert is to instantly galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of a missing child.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 1:49 PM.