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Missing for days, teenage hiker found alive in Tennessee

fs.usda.gov/cherokee/

SHADY VALLEY, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say they have found a 16-year-old female hiker who was reported missing last Wednesday while hiking in the Cherokee National Forest in northeast Tennessee.

According to WJHL-TV, Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece confirmed Tuesday afternoon that search crews had found Ava Zechie of Washington alive and seemingly in good condition. Reece said crews were working on bringing the girl down the mountain.

Zechie had disappeared almost a week ago while hiking on a school trip. Zechiel is a student at Freedom Mountain Academy in Mountain City, a wilderness-oriented boarding school for teenagers.