Missing 17-year-old girl with Down syndrome found safe in Downtown Pittsburgh, police say

STOWE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — UPDATE 1/6/24 at 4:20 p.m. The 17-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was reported missing Friday was located in Downtown Pittsburgh Saturday evening, police say. Police say medics are evaluating her but she appears to be okay.

ORIGINAL STORY - FIRST REPORTED ON 1/5/24

Stowe Township police are searching for a missing 17-year-old girl who has Down syndrome.

Kayla Durler, 17, of West Mifflin, was dropped off at Sto-Rox High School around 7 a.m. Friday.

School was closed Friday, but Durler was dropped off due to a miscommunication, police said.

Durler has not been seen since 7 a.m. She was last seen wearing a green coat and maroon pants.

Allegheny County police shared a surveillance photo believed to be Durler. The photo was taken at 10:15 a.m. on Stanwix Street in downtown Pittsburgh.

In the photo, she is wearing a black cap and purple backpack. Detectives believe she got off a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus at that location.

State police said Durler was seen in Market Square at 10 a.m. Friday.

Sto-Rox School District said they’re working with police to help find Durler.

A spokesperson from the district released the following statement:

“As we communicated to ABC Transit on Thursday night, classes at the Jr./Sr. High School were scheduled to be conducted virtually on Friday. We are still trying to ascertain why this student was dropped off and not taken directly home. Sto-Rox School District takes the safety and security of students extremely seriously. Once administrators learned about this situation we immediately contacted law enforcement and started working with them to locate the student in question.”

Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call 911, or Stowe Township police at 412-331-4043.

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