Fifteen-year-old Jessica Norris, who was reported missing earlier in the week, is back with her grandmother after officers with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department were notified of her whereabouts.

Grandmother Dorothy Jean Norris of Heucks Retreat Road in Lincoln County said she’d been looking for her granddaughter since Tuesday.

“I was scared to death, and I had everyone posting her picture on Facebook, and I got Lt. Byron (Catchings) at the sheriff’s department to listen to me and they put out an amber alert. So everyone knew I was looking for her.”

A family friend had heard about Jessica running away, and at around 4 a.m. Saturday Jessica called asking the friend if she could stay the night at her house. The friend told Jessica to come on over and that’s when her friend called the grandmother.

“She called a friend of the family at 4 a.m. to ask if she could spend the night,” Jean Norris said. “So, our friend called me, and I called the sheriff’s department. I was afraid of her running away again. There’s so much meanness out there.”

Sheriff Steve Rushing confirmed the girl had been picked up by sheriff’s deputies and was released to the grandmother’s custody Saturday afternoon.