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Natalie Armstrong, 13-year-old girl who disappeared after leaving Dallas home, found safe
Natalie Armstrong, a Dallas teenager with intellectual disabilities, was found safe after being reported missing more than a week ago.
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A Dallas teenager with intellectual disabilities was found safe after being reported missing more than a week ago. Dallas Police confirmed that 13-year-old Natalie Armstrong has been found safe, and the Texas Department of Public Safety has discontinued its Endangered Missing Person Alert.
After Natalie went missing, she was designated as an endangered missing person who “may be in need of assistance,” per ABC. She had been last seen on foot at 10:08 p.m. Wednesday, October 21 in the 9300 block of Whistle Stop Place in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas.
What Natalie Armstrong’s mother said
Natalie’s mother, Megan Bernhardt, said after her disappearance that her daughter has autism. She feared that Natalie would put herself in danger without realizing it.
"She's on the spectrum, but high functioning," Bernhardt said.
Bernhardt added that Natalie had been anxious about school evaluations scheduled for the next morning.
"She was feeling anxious about those and ended up just taking off from home. And I wasn't able to catch her in time and stop her," Bernhardt said.
The mother said at the time that she believes that Natalie may have left the neighborhood on the light rail. The Lake Highlands DART station is just a short walk from the apartment complex where Natalie lives. Bernhardt said that Natalie has jumped on the train before, but has never been missing for this long.
"Her thought process just is a little bit different from other people's at times," Bernhardt said.
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She had also said that she was worried her daughter may not be able to recognize certain dangers, like getting into a stranger's car.
"She doesn't always have those same sort of fears or concerns in making those choices," Bernhardt said.
After Natalie’s disappearance, the Dallas Police Department had released surveillance photos of her walking along a street.
“On October 21, 2026, at approximately 8:43 p.m., Natalie was seen exiting a DART train at the SMU/Mockingbird Station, with another person, believed to be juvenile. She was wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans, and white shoes as seen in the photos below,” they wrote on Facebook.
Police did not reveal where Natalie was located.
