A 16-year-old girl who vanished from Missouri in December was reportedly found alive this month in a sex offender’s home in Colorado.

On April 18, a Missouri task force informed police in Fort Collins, Colorado, that a missing girl could be in the area. The tip led Fort Collins’ SWAT Team to execute a search warrant at Maximilian Bondrescu’s home — leading to the girl’s discovery, according to KOMU.

KUSA reported that the girl sent a message on Instagram on April 15, leading authorities to Bondrescu, 44. Until then, the girl had not used social media since her disappearance.

Bondrescu allegedly denied that a child was in his home. The girl — who was reportedly found hiding in a closet at his residence — told police she was held against her will, according to the Island Packet.

Police said Bondrescu rented a vehicle to drive the girl from Missouri to Colorado. The girl was forced to work for Bondrescu’s snow removal company and wore a mask to conceal her age and identity, the Island Packet reported.

According to KUSA, the girl was 15 in December when she was reported missing by her father. The father said he got a call that she did not arrive at school that morning. He came home to find his daughter was missing, and she was not answering her phone.

Bondrescu is a sex offender with a 2019 conviction for immoral communications with a minor. In the current case, he is charged with second-degree kidnapping, sexual assault on a child, second-degree assault, false imprisonment, failure to register as a sex offender, child abuse, harboring a minor, and obstructing a peace officer. He remains jailed on a $500,000 bond.

[Feature Photo: Larimer police]