Missing 15-Year-Old Found, Her Companion is in Custody

Shelby Harris, the 15-year-old student who on Halloween day, is back with her family, police reported Sunday afternoon.

Police arrested her companion, Gavin McFate, 25, on a $1.8 million felony warrant; he was booked at Santa Rita Jail without incident.

Lt. Jeff Bretzing said in a press release that Shelby was uninjured and is cooperating with the investigation.

Harris and McFate were located after someone called an anonymous tip into the police department. The caller told the police he had watched the news and remembered seeing Harris and McFate in the area of Westley, Calif. 

Detectives responded to Westley early Sunday morning, and found the two staying at a motel off of Interstate 5. 

"Shelby’s family is very relieved she has returned safely," Bretzing said in the release.

"The Pleasanton Police Department would like to thank everyone who helped us locate Shelby and bring this situation to a peaceful conclusion."

Harris told her parents that she would return home at the end of the school day on Halloween day, but never returned. Police determined early on that she was most likely with McFate.

Police said they didn't believe it was an acute kidnapping, where McFate snatched her and threw her into a car, for example. But they did say that because Shelby is so young, they were treating the situation as if she was not with him voluntarily.