A Georgia teen girl who vanished more than a year ago after an argument with her father was finally found safe in a neighboring state using a fake name, authorities announced Monday – to the relief of her overjoyed mother.
Asata Amun, then 16, was spotted on doorbell video fleeing shoeless from her Buford home in Gwinnett County on Feb. 1, 2024 without any personal belongings, according to police and reports.
The girl disappeared after her father threatened to ship her off to military school over disciplinary problems, WSB reported.
“So you are just going to run like a coward, Asata,” the dad, Kwabena Amun shouted, police said according to the station.
After 13 months of uncertainty, Gwinnett police said Amun has been in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services since February 2024 – but under an alias.
Tennessee officials were eventually able to figure out Amun’s true identity after they sorted out inconsistent statements from the girl.
The girl’s mother, Jasmine Dominique, told WSB this week she “dropped the phone” when she got the good news about her girl.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said the parent, who lives in Connecticut.
“She was in Atlanta when she left and she slept in the street until someone kind of helped her and got her on a bus to go where she needed to go to feel safe,” added Dominique, who hopes to reunite with her daughter soon.
Amun’s two sisters were removed from their father’s home last year over allegations he abused them, and Amun also had claimed she was abused, WSB reported.
Kwabena Amun denied those accusations, according to the station.
Amun will be transferred to the care of the Georgia Department of Family & Children Services, police said.
