UPDATE: Lafayette teen found safe in Whitfield after going missing from Knox County

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Kailaigh was found safe in a Whitfield County, GA according to our affiliate in Knoxville.

Kailaigh‘s mother confirms that her father is on the way to meet deputies.

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A Lafayette family makes plea for answers after teenager goes missing from Knox County.

She was last seen July 30th in the North Shore neighborhood in Knoxville. They believe she could have been seen in Chattanooga, but aren’t sure.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help in locating a missing 17 year old girl.

Kailaigh (pronounced Kayla) Faith Godfrey Lay Roerdink is a white female who was reported missing from a residence on Hart Road on July 30th.

She was last seen wearing a gray t-shirt with the words “No Guts, No Glory” on the front, maroon pants, and carrying a black and white Adidas backpack with the initials KFGLR in blue letters.

She also has a tattoo of an arrow on her left foot. She is 5’ 4”, 145 pounds, with dark brown long hair.

She would have began her senior year at LaFayette High School this year.

Kailaigh had been undergoing residential therapy in Knoxville since March

Kailaigh was attending online school while receiving residential therapy.

Her parents say that she has made amazing progress toward the achievement of some of her personal goals including being the first person in her family to graduate high school along with getting her drivers license and starting a career.

According to her parents, Kailaigh was adopted when she was fifteen (15) and at
the time of the adoption she chose to change her name to Kailaigh Roerdink.

Her mother says she first met Kailaigh when she was a student in my class at the local Middle School where she’s a teacher.

Prior to her adoption, Kailaigh lived in a local group home where her father was employed.

She has birth family in Meigs County, Polk County and Bradley County.

Her former foster home is in Dalton, Georgia.

Below is a letter that her parents wrote to her:

They want her to know they are not angry with her and they are just waiting to get her a big hug and the love that she deserves.

Anyone with information is asked to call the KCSO at 865-215-2244.