New Zealand Herald

A Kiwi teenager who went missing after she boarded a flight from Australia to New Zealand without her family knowing has been found.

Waka had urged Cooper to make contact with her family, emphasising she was not in trouble and they simply wanted to know she was safe. She also had a distinctive Māori tattoo on her right calf in the shape of a stingray. Cooper's family wasn't sure of her movements after landing in Auckland, but they suspected the former Trident High School student had returned to the Whakatāne area. Queensland police this morning were unaware Cooper had left Gladstone but by noon officers informed the family she had flown with Qantas from Gladstone to Brisbane. Cooper had said she was missing her friends in New Zealand, but said nothing that indicated she was planning to flee. On their way to the shops on return from the beach, Waka said they passed Cooper walking along the road towards home, leading the family to believe that's where she was headed.