A few days after the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department asked for the public’s assistance in locating a Lexington teen who was reported as a runaway, the 16-year-old was found safe, and an 18-year-old was charged in connection.

Before she was found, Mackenzie Dalton, 16, had last been seen in late November after leaving her home in Lexington, the sheriff’s department stated on Jan. 2. Deputies stated the vehicle she left in and the suitcase she took with her had since been recovered.

At the time, officials believed Dalton may have been traveling with a man she knows. 

On Jan. 6, the department released an update stating Dalton had been found safe in Lexington County. 

“We have no reason to believe Dalton was ever held against her will or with someone she didn’t want to be with,” the statement read. 

Mackenzie Keith English Jr., 18, has been arrested in connection and charged with obstruction of justice. “He is accused of lying to investigators about being with Dalton and his knowledge of her location,” according to the sheriff’s department’s statement.

English is being held in the Lexington County Detention Center.