Missing Pennsylvania girl found in Mexico, man arrested

A 16-year-old who disappeared with a 45-year-old "family friend" has been found in Mexico and the man has been arrested, police said.

She and Kevin Esterly, the man police say she willingly ran away with, were escorted to Miami by US Homeland Security Investigations agents and the US Marshals Service.

March 17: Kevin Esterly and Amy Yu are found in the afternoon by USA and Mexican authorities in Playa del Carmen, a Mexican resort town about 35 miles south of Cancun.

The pair was located in Playa del Carmen yesterday and are being returned to the US. Yu was a close family friend to Esterly, his wife and their four daughters. Investigators say the two were in a secretive relationship.

The two were reported missing on March 5, when Esterly is believed to have signed her out of school in Allentown by poising as her stepfather.

Mexican authorities on Thursday issued an Amber Alert saying that police believe Amy Yu and Kevin Esterly are in the country, and the teen may be in danger.

School records showed that Yu was signed out of school by Esterly, who was listed as her stepfather, 10 times between November 13 and February 9.

The police were to be notified if Esterly returned to the school, Mauser said.

There was a secret, hidden aspect to the relationship between the teen and the middle-aged man.

"For two weeks, I've had trouble sleeping and eating", Amy's mother Miu Luu said.

Luu said she had discovered text messages between Esterly and her daughter on Amy's phone, which appeared to show they were in a romantic relationship.

Amy was reunited with her family.

- March 5: Luu drops Yu off at her bus stop, but the teenager doesn't take it to school.

The case has made headlines in the Lehigh Valley and beyond.

February 9: Miu Luu, Amy Yu's mother, drives out in the afternoon to pick up her daughter at the Lehigh Valley Academy Charter School, but she's told Amy already has been picked up by Esterly, according to police and Luu. Kevin Esterly, who has withdrawn $4,000 from his wife's bank account, is last seen by his wife at 6:05 a.m., police say. When police find the Esterlys there, officers tell the Esterlys to go and never come back. Yu would often accompany them on family vacations and was described as the couple's "fifth daughter".

Allentown Police Chief William Reinik said Esterly signed Amy out of school multiple times and that their relationship had been "going on for at least a year". "She is glad that Amy is safe and that Kevin is with authorities".