UPDATE:

According to her family, 16-year-old Gabriella Charboneau was found safe and sound on Wednesday evening.

We will update this story as more details become available.

ORIGINAL STORY:

IDAHO FALLS – A 16-year-old girl with epilepsy is missing from Idaho Falls, and her mother says her disappearance is related to that of another teen who has been missing for nearly a month.

Gabriella Charboneau was reported as a runaway. She was last seen at her home on Crestview Avenue in Idaho Falls around 2 p.m. Monday. She was wearing a green long-sleeved crop top, black jeans and black Vans loafers. She has shoulder-length black hair with hints of red. She is 5’4″, weighs about 120 pounds and wears eyelash extensions. Her mother, Savannah Duenes, says Charboneau is of Native American/Hispanic descent and has a light complexion.

Charboneau’s family and Idaho Falls police are asking the public’s help to find the girl, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called sunflower syndrome. The seizures are triggered by sunlight and, as of Wednesday evening, she had not taken her daily medication for three days. Her mother says she fears the situation could lead to a potentially fatal tonic-clonic seizure (grand mal).

Charboneau is believed to be connected to another runaway, 15-year-old Hayvin Croft of Idaho Falls. Croft’s mother, LaceyMarie Wallender, says Croft has been missing for 29 days. He was supposed to meet with his parole officer but didn’t show up, and his mother and grandmother, who share custody, haven’t seen him since, Wallender says.

Croft is about 5 feet 1 inch tall, has black curly hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion, Wallender said. She said he has a “mama’s boy” tattoo on one arm and a cross tattoo on his right arm.

Duenes says there are rumors that Charboneau has been seen with an adult Hispanic man at Los Albertos restaurant, at an apartment across from WinCo Foods in Idaho Falls and possibly at Mobile Home Estates and Linden Park Elementary School in Idaho Falls. Duenes says Charboneau may also be near Leo’s Place restaurant. She left her home in a pearl white Toyota Camry but was recently seen in a blue Subaru, Duenes says.

Jessica Clements, spokeswoman for the Idaho Falls Police Department, reminds the public that harboring a runaway is a criminal offense.

“If you knowingly harbor a youth who is considered a runaway, you need to call the police and report it,” Clements says. “Sometimes we see this with other friends’ parents or older children. They have a runaway staying at their home. That is a crime if you knowingly harbor a runaway.”

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Charboneau or Croft should call local police. The Idaho Falls Police Department can be reached at the non-emergency number (208) 529-1200.