UPDATE: Further details have emerged surrounding the teenage girl who was found alive more than a year from disappearing from her home.
Hailey Burns was held captive at Michael Ren Wysolovksi’s house, with police reports saying the 16-year-old was prevented from escaping by a floor-to-ceiling gate.
Hailey originally met Wysolovski in an online chatroom for people struggling with food issues, deputy chief assistant district attorney in Gwinnett County Tracie Cason told The Charlotte Observer.
Wysolovski kept a food journal detailing how many calories Hailey had eaten each day, and would sometimes withhold food from her if he thought she’d eaten too much the day before.
On some occasions, the teen was made to perform oral sex in exchange for food, according to additional details in the warrants, News.com.au reports.
“She is not the same person that left and that is the hardest part of this,” Hailey’s mother, Shaunna Burns, told wscotv’s Channel 9.
ORIGINAL: Hailey Burns was last seen by her parents on May 23, 2016.
The 16-year-old’s mum went to wake her for school to find her bed empty and the front door of their North Carolina home wide open.
“It was the worst feeling you could ever imagine. You feel completely out of control. You don’t know what to do,” Hailey’s father, Tony Burns, told WCNC News of his daughter’s disappearance.
The family, who have spent the past year searching for her, never gave up hope that they would find the teenager alive.
Now, more than a year later, Hailey has been found and reunited with her parents.
“Our sweet baby is coming home with us,” Hailey’s mum wrote on Facebook.
According to Fox 5 Atlanta, Hailey was found at the home of a 31-year-old man in Georgia – two states away from her home – by the FBI.
Authorities believe Hailey started talking to the man, Michael Ren Wysolovski, on the internet, and left her home over a year ago to meet him.
Wysolovski is now in custody and is facing a number of charges including aggravated sodomy, cruelty to children and deprivation, interference with custody, and false imprisonment, according to Fox News.
“I woke up this morning at about 4 am. I walked into my daughter’s room like I have for over a year but this time she was there in her bed safe and sound,” Hailey’s emotional father wrote on Facebook of his daugher’s return.
“I can but thank the people who helped make this possible, all of the law enforcement and amazing friends that our family has been blessed with. Though tired from an amazing 48 hours where we helped lead the authorities to where my daughter was, I woke up today crying and grateful again for the miracle that has happened in our lives. She will need all of your support as she fights back from this ordeal. But she feels the love around her.”
“We never gave up. She is happy and grateful to be home. We can now breath again.”
