A teenager who had been missing for 263 days was found alive at the home of a former teacher, according to court records.
The girl vanished from a youth shelter in Ohio nearly nine months earlier.
She was 16 when she left Huckleberry House, a transitional living centre in Columbus, on December 2, 2025. She’s since turned 17.
The search finally ended on August 21 when an officer working with the US Marshals Service went to an address in Springfield. Court documents state that the property was the last address where the teenager was believed to be.
The home belonged to 48-year-old Jobe Binkley, who previously worked as a teacher in the city.
Court records state that he acknowledged that the girl was inside and called for her to come out.
It was reportedly the third time that officers had visited the address while trying to find her. During the two earlier visits, Binkley allegedly refused to let them search the house and claimed that she wasn’t there.
Court records state that officers had told him that the teenager was officially classed as a missing person.
They don’t explain why the place wasn’t searched during those previous visits. Binkley has since been charged with one count of interference with custody, a first-degree misdemeanour under Ohio law. He’s pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September 30.
Personnel records obtained by Columbus, Ohio broadcaster ABC 6 show that Binkley worked for the Springfield City School District. It remains unclear how he knew the teenager or whether he had ever taught her.
He was placed on administrative leave in November 2024 after concerns were raised about his professional interactions with students. The district investigated but found that the claims couldn’t be substantiated.
Binkley was placed on leave from work again in January 2025 and then formally dismissed the following month. According to the records, he was fired for breaching the school district’s technology policy.
The district said that it didn’t become aware of the allegations involving the missing girl until after Binkley had left his job.
Former Franklin County prosecutor Ron O’Brien said that investigators could examine phones belonging to Binkley and the teenager as they seek to establish what exactly had happened.
Depending on what they find, he said that further charges could very well follow.
‘If you have an adult trying to take advantage of a minor, oftentimes, the only charge you might be able to lodge at the outset is an interference with custody,’ O’Brien told ABC 6.
‘You really need the cooperation of the minor to do that. Sometimes they’re willing to provide that information and other times not.’ Binkley hasn’t been charged with any offence beyond interference with custody.
Danielle Flint, who lives near the Springfield property, said that she had seen Facebook posts suggesting the teenager could be there. She had tried to catch sight of the girl around the house but never did.
‘I’ve tried to peek around here and see if I can catch her, you know, in the back or maybe out of the house at night, but I had never seen her,’ Flint told ABC 6. ‘I would literally lose every piece of me if that was one of my girls.’
Authorities haven’t disclosed where the teenager is now or released further information about her condition.
What happened during the 263 days that she was missing also remains unclear.
Metro have reached out to Binkley’s attorney for comment.