11-year-old Nickeya Gause was last seen Thursday afternoon.
Gause's grandmother updated reporters on the case.
Loved ones and police circulated flyers around Gause's bus stop.
ATLANTA -- An 11-year-old girl who was believed to be missing is home safe.
Nickeya Gause disappeared after getting off her school bus Thursday afternoon at El Paso Road and Santa Fe Trail in Southwest Atlanta. She never made it to her grandmother's house about a block away, where she goes every day like clock work.
"I have confirmed she was found safe and unharmed within the last hour or so at her mother's house in Lithia Springs," Atanta Police spokesman Carlos Campos said in a statement shortly fte 8:30 a.m. Friday. "At this time, there is nothing to indicate foul play of any sort was involved in her disappearance. However, investigators are conducting a de-brief right now to gather more facts."
Gause's mother Allesha Bettis said she received a text message from her daughter Friday morning, saying she had been home in Lithia Springs most of the night. There is no phone in the house; the message was sent by computer. Her mother said her daughter does have a cell phone but is only allowed to use it on weekends.
The search for Gause had been centered around her grandmother's house because that was her last confirmed location, shortly before 4:15 p.m. Thursday. Family and police searched the neighborhood for hours, as well as the homes of her friends and boyfriend, but found no signs of the girl.
When police released her description, two girls came forward saying they saw a girl who looked like Gause walking down Countyline Road at 5 p.m.
It's possible she could have walked home to Lithia Springs without telling anyone, but her mother said she went home several times since her daughter disappeared and never saw her.