By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Published: 18:16 GMT, 2 January 2026 | Updated: 18:59 GMT, 2 January 2026

A missing Kentucky teenager was found alive two states away months after she disappeared.

Wynter Wagoner, 13, was last seen at her foster parents' home in Orlando on October 14.

Two months later on December 26, she was found with a 37-year-old man at a Maryland home 560 miles away after investigators received a tip about her location.

Maryland police arrested and charged the man, Christian Alexander Delgado, with kidnapping.

During an initial court appearance in Maryland, Delgado claimed the whole situation was a 'misunderstanding'.

Court documents obtained by WKYT revealed that Delgado told police he met the girl online.

He claimed to have driven from Florida to Kentucky to get her, before driving her back to Florida and going to Maryland.

Wynter allegedly told friends and family that she was planning on running away before she went missing, according to the court documents.

Wynter Wagoner (pictured), 13, was found alive in Maryland two months after she was last seen at her foster parents' home in Kentucky

Christian Alexander Delgado (pictured), 37, was arrested and charged with her kidnapping, but claims the situation is a 'misunderstanding'

The teen was finally found after she called her aunt and gave her the address of the Maryland home where she was staying.

Delgado was transferred to the Rockcastle County Detention Center in Kentucky on Friday, according to jail records.

He is being held on $1 million bond, and his next court date is scheduled for January 5. He is yet to enter a plea.

Wynter's family has expressed their relief that she was found alive and is finally home.

'We are incredibly grateful that Wynter has been found. Our focus now is on her wellbeing, her healing, and surrounding her with love, stability, and privacy as she takes the next steps forward,' Wagoner's cousin, John Miller, told the Daily Mail in a statement.

'What she has been through is deeply personal, and she deserves compassion and protection as she recovers. 

'We want to thank the countless people across communities and state lines who shared her story, prayed for her, and refused to let her be forgotten. The awareness, the vigilance, and the persistence truly mattered.'

Her father, Dusty Wagoner, told WKTY that the teen is blaming herself for the situation.

Delgado allegedly told police he met the girl online, and claimed to have driven from Florida to Kentucky to get her, then drove her back to Florida before going to Maryland

'She's blaming herself for a lot of the stuff that she doesn't understand. She is a child. She doesn't understand,' her said.

'Other than that, I think she's doing okay. She's ready to come home. She's ready to come home, she told me.

'I know nine out of ten kids in her situation never would have made it out of it. I feel so overwhelmed and so relieved, and I’m so thankful to God.'