Thursday, September 17, 2026 - An American teenager who had been missing for 263 days was found alive at the Ohio home of a former teacher, according to court records.
The girl disappeared from Huckleberry House, a transitional
living centre for young people in Columbus, on December 2, 2025. She was 16
when she left the facility and has since turned 17. The search ended on August
21 when Springfield police and an officer working with a US Marshals Service
task force went to an address in Springfield that court documents identified as
the teenager’s last suspected location.
The property belonged to 48-year-old Jobe Binkley, a former
teacher with the Springfield City School District. According to court records,
Binkley acknowledged that the teenager was inside the property and called for
her to come out. It was reportedly the third time officers had visited the
address while searching for the girl. During two previous visits, Binkley
allegedly refused to allow officers to search the property and told them she
was not there.
Court records state that officers had informed Binkley that
the teenager was officially classified as a missing person. The documents did
not explain why the property was not searched during the earlier visits.
Binkley has since been charged with one count of interference with custody, a
first-degree misdemeanour under Ohio law. He has pleaded not guilty and was
released on bond. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September 30.
Personnel records obtained by Columbus broadcaster ABC 6
show that Binkley previously worked for the Springfield City School District.
It remains unclear from the information provided how he knew the teenager or
whether he had ever taught her. Binkley was placed on administrative leave in
November 2024 after concerns were raised about his professional interactions
with students. The school district investigated the concerns but found that the
claims could not be substantiated.
He was again placed on leave in January 2025 before being
dismissed the following month for violating the district’s technology policy,
according to personnel records. The school district said it did not become
aware of the allegations involving the missing teenager until after Binkley had
left his position.
Former Franklin County prosecutor Ron O’Brien said
investigators could examine phones belonging to Binkley and the teenager as
they attempt to establish what happened during the period she was missing.
O’Brien said additional charges could depend on what investigators uncover.
“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 has not been charged with any offence
beyond interference with custody.
Danielle Flint, who lives near the Springfield property,
said she had previously seen Facebook posts suggesting that the missing
teenager might be at the address and had tried unsuccessfully to spot her
around the property. “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 have not disclosed the teenager’s current
whereabouts or provided further information about her condition. The
circumstances surrounding the 263 days she was missing have also not been
publicly established.
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