WATTS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A 16-year-old girl from Watts has been found safe and sound after disappearing more than a week ago, a family spokesman said.

Mayanin Vazquez’s family is “deeply grateful to everyone who assisted in the search and helped spread the news of her disappearance. Your love and support have been invaluable during this difficult time,” the spokesperson said in a statement to ABC7 early Wednesday. “The family requests privacy as they focus on healing and spending time together following this ordeal.”

Further details were not initially announced.

“We cannot express enough our gratitude for the community’s support in locating Mayanin and bringing her home,” the statement said. “We ask for your understanding and respect for our privacy as we reunite and move forward as a family.”

Before Mayanin was found, her family said she was on her way to school with her sisters on the morning of August 12 when she stopped at a Smart car. & Final near Laurel and East 97 Street in Watts.

However, Mayanin never attended school and her family did not know where she went. The teenager was last seen on video walking outside the store with a man her family did not know.

“I don’t know if it’s a friendly or an enemy,” the girl’s father, Samuel Maldonado, said at the time. “Of course, this is the last person we need to find in order to be able to answer some questions. To me, he looks strange. I don’t recognize the person, of course, so alarm bells immediately went off for me.”

Mayanin’s family said they reported her missing immediately. They described the teenager as a good student and athlete who participated in cross-country running and track and field.

They told ABC7 there was no reason to believe she ran away, adding that she did not have a boyfriend. Her family also said she left her phone at home.