Mother of Columbia County girl who briefly ran away from home talks about search

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By Katie McKee

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — A spokesperson for the Department of Children and Families said that they are investigating why 10-year-old Katelynn Mosher ran away from home. Her estranged biological mother says she has the answer and wants her daughter back.

Investigators said the girl was last seen by her stepmother and guardian at 3 a.m. on Friday. However, they did not report her missing until 5:00 that night.

For more than 12 hours, crews searched the area around a Fort White home looking Katelynn. The girl was found by her family Saturday morning about a mile away from home.

“I kept telling them, 'I’m not doing any good sitting here. I will stay on a main road where you can find me if you patrol around, I’m not going to go anywhere until my daughter comes in,'” said Sasha Butterfield, Katelynn’s mother.

Butterfield is Katelynn’s biological mother. She doesn’t have custody of Katelynn, but says that didn’t stop her from showing up to search for her.

According to Butterfield, she, her sister and friend found Katelynn in the woods.

“She ran to us screaming that she didn’t want to go back. The cops keep giving her back," Butterfield said. "She was put in a closet for two days, starved, when they let her out she ran away because she didn’t want to be there."

Action News Jax went to the home that Katelynn ran away from, reaching out to her stepmother and guardian to ask about those allegations, and no one answered.

Deputies confirmed that Katelynn packed some snacks to run away with and she was barefoot when found. They also confirm that she has done this before.

Butterfield showed Action News Jax documents showing that she has visitation rights to see her daughter, which she says have been denied by her current caretaker. She says she knows DCF is investigating and has been told that Katelynn is in a safe house.

“I want to see my daughter, I want to talk to my daughter, and it’s been two years now,” Butterfield said.