Runaway teen safely back with family

An 18-year-old girl missing in Auckland for more than a week has been found safe and well after being cared for by a family she met soon after running away.

Shoshone Anne-Marie Love, who has the mental age of a 7-year-old, moved to Auckland from Christchurch to live with extended family members on April 23, but disappeared from her Avondale home the next morning.

Police had grave concerns for her safety because of the possibility she could be easily influenced.

Constable Matt Murray said Ms Love had been looked after by a family who brought her into the Avondale police station on Saturday after reading an article in the New Zealand Herald expressing concerns for Ms Love's wellbeing.

"She'd been staying with a family that she'd met and they've cared for her pretty well," Mr Murray said.

"Once they saw the missing person story they thought they had better bring her in. Basically, they've brought her into the station and said: 'Look we've looked after her for the week... we don't know where she came from but we looked after her because we thought it was the right thing to do'."

Asked how Ms Love was, Mr Murray said: "She was very happy when we spoke to her, she was fine, she had been cared for very well. We were quite thrilled when she turned up.

"It's nice to know that someone did look out for her and help her."

Ms Love was now in the care of extended family.