West Michigan teen Penny Wise missing for 7 weeks found safe

Missing West Michigan teenager Penelope “Penny” Wise has been found safe after being reported missing more than seven weeks ago.

Penny, 17, was found around 11 a.m. on Sunday, July 21, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release Sunday.

Initial investigation revealed that Penny was living with an “older male at a residence in the city of Rockford,” the sheriff’s office said. On Sunday, Penny left the home on a bicycle and was seen by a neighbor who called police.

Additional information about the investigation was released Monday, explaining that Penny met the man, identified as a 44-year-old from Rockford, around 2 a.m. on June 1. He was a stranger. Penny lived with the man at his home from June 1 until Sunday, when she left on her bicycle.

Investigators also learned that Penny and the man were engaged.

“Kent County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Rockford Department of Public Safety and the alert citizenry for their assistance in locating Penny,” a statement said Monday.

Since her disappearance, the sheriff’s office, search and rescue volunteers, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshalls, and the Rockford Department of Public Safety have conducted extensive searches of the Rockford area where Penny was last seen on camera.

An image from surveillance video released by the sheriff’s office on June 7 provided an updated description of Penny. The video was taken around 6 p.m. from Rockford Park Drive near Northland Drive, about five miles from her home, the day she disappeared.

The sheriff’s office said on July 3 that video footage taken six hours later showed Penny near the Corner Bar in Rockford. She was last seen on camera walking alone near the bar around midnight on June 1.

The West Michigan nonprofit Silent Observer offered a $3,000 reward for tips leading to Penny’s whereabouts.

The sheriff is still investigating Penny’s case.

“We do not know who the man is that she was with,” Penny’s mother Mishael Wise wrote on the Facebook page Sunday night.

“We don’t know how long she was there or how she came across him,” Mishael continued. “Penny is still in police custody. We have not seen her. This is an ongoing investigation. We are thankful that she has been found. She is alive and well. Many people have reached out. I will respond as I can. Thank you all for praying, searching and spreading the word.”