Teen originally thought abducted found safe on NJ Turnpike

The missing teen who led the country to believe she was abducted after pleading for help on Twitter has been found on the New Jersey Turnpike.

New Jersey State Police found Kara Alongi, 16, wandering near Exit 1 in South Jersey about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and took her to a hospital for evaluation, where she was joined later by her family, according to nj.com. After being transferred to a hospital closer to her Clark, NJ home, Alongi was discharged early Wednesday morning. Police planned further interviews to discern what she was doing in the 46 hours since she went missing Sunday evening.

It was not clear if Alongi made it to Manhattan after buying a train ticket for Penn Station at the Rahway station, or if she would face criminal charges for the resource-gobbling hoax. The Clark Police Department received 6,000 phone calls within 14 hours -- more than double the number of households in the small Union County town, reported nj.com. Alongi gained 109,000 Twitter followers.