A teen was missing for a year. Then she was found pregnant in a closet.

A 14-year-old girl who was reported missing by her foster family for more than a year was found pregnant in a closet of a Michigan home this week. Authorities said they may bring kidnapping charges against a suspect, the child’s biological mother.

Hours after authorities received new tips on the whereabouts of the teenager, a U.S. Marshals fugitive team found the girl at a home in Port Huron, Michigan, on Tuesday, Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert C. Watson told the Washington Post. Watson said the team quickly found the girl after they got a warrant to search the home, roughly 60 miles outside of Detroit.

“She was found in a closet hiding behind some clothes,” Watson told the Post on Friday. “She was visibly pregnant. She was crying. We brought her outside and reassured her she was safe.”

Authorities are considering potential charges of parental kidnapping and custodial interference against a suspect, the teen’s biological mother, who had lost custody of the girl, Watson said.

“This was already in play before we got involved,” he said of the potential charges. The biological mother has not been publicly named by authorities.

If the biological mother is charged and convicted of parental kidnapping, she could face up to one year and one day in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both, according to state law.

Officials with the Port Huron Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday. St. Clair County Sheriff Mat King told the Post that there is an ongoing joint investigation between the sheriff’s office and police department about whether to bring more charges in the case. It’s unclear whether sexual assault will be among the charges as it’s unclear who impregnated the girl, he said.

The news was previously reported by the Detroit Free Press.

Days before the girl was found in Michigan, two abducted children from Missouri who had been missing for nearly a year were found with their noncustodial mother at a Florida grocery store. Kristi Gilley, 36, was arrested last week on an out-of-state fugitive warrant after she, a 12-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy were “disguising their identities” while shopping at a Winn-Dixie, according to police.

More than 90% of the nearly 30,000 children reported missing in 2020 were runaways, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. More than three-quarters of runaways are between the ages of 15 and 17, the organization says. Children who are missing from foster care in the United States are typically gone for more than a month before being found, according to a federal report released last year. The report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general also noted that missing foster children were gone for more than 50 days on average in nine states, thus raising their chances of substance use, HIV infection, sex trafficking or involvement with the justice system.

Watson told the Post that the sheriff’s office asked the U.S. Marshals for assistance on Tuesday in finding the girl after getting new tips that the teen might be pregnant. Watson said he and his team drove nearly 100 miles from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Port Huron on Tuesday.

When they arrived at the home, they were met by residents who were “uncooperative and untruthful” and who did not allow them to enter the property unless they had a search warrant, he said. It’s unclear whether the biological mother was inside at the time.

“It was very apparent from my experience that they were trying to conceal something, based on their body language and being very evasive,” Watson said. “Usually in cases of missing children, people bend over backwards to help us. The fact that we were getting stonewalled so blatantly bolstered our belief that she was inside.”

The U.S. Marshals’ fugitive team returned with a search warrant about 20 minutes later. At about 5 p.m., as Watson was interviewing one of the home’s occupants, his colleagues found the girl.

“She came out of the closet, and she was pretty upset,” Watson recalled.

The teen was greeted outside the home by a Child Protective Services worker who gave her a big hug, the U.S. Marshals Service reported. The girl was taken to a hospital to be examined. Watson said he was told by CPS that the teen, who is about four or five months pregnant, received no prenatal care while she was missing.

“From what I’ve been told, everything appears to be a healthy pregnancy,” Watson said. “She’s getting prenatal care now, so that she’s taken care of.”

Since he took over as the missing children coordinator in his district in September, Watson said he’s been lucky to lead several recoveries, including a case of four children who were found in the parking lot of a Walmart in Florida after they were missing for about 18 months. But he described finding the 14-year-old girl this week as “by far the most rewarding assignment in my career.”

“When you save a child, that means everything to me,” he said.

Watson said the girl has been reunited with her biological father after she asked to be placed in his care, Watson said.

“His nightmare is over, and he’s been reunited with his little girl,” Watson said. “She is doing well and I wish them all the best.”

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The Washington Post’s Marisa Iati and Kim Bellware contributed to this report.