Remains found are those of missing 14-year-old girl from Old Town

OLD TOWN, Fla. – Demiah Appling, 14, was last seen Oct. 16 around 9:30 p.m. in the neighborhood of Suwannee Gardens in Old Town where the Dixie County Sheriff’s Office said she got into a vehicle.

Since then, her grandmother and police have been desperate to find her. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement put out a missing persons alert with pictures of Appling and a description.

On Friday, the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office confirmed human remains found last week in Bell, Florida, which is in Gilchrist County, were those of Appling.

The news release reads: On Dec. 5, human remains were found in Bell, and the Tallahassee FDLE Crime Lab was able to confirm the identity as Demiah. The Eighth District Medical Examiner has ruled the death as a homicide.

Dixie County Sheriff’s Office is leading the homicide investigation, which remains active.