The following letter was written by the young lady who went missing in Dewey Beach Aug. 4 and was located, unharmed, in Pot-Nets Aug. 5.

My name is Cecily Connell, and I want to say thank you to all of the people who reached out to me over the past few days.  I never meant to scare anyone or have people think I was in harm’s way; things were just a whirlwind of events that went out of my control.

I find it so heartwarming that so many people, even those who don’t know me, came forward to help.  If I could do things over, I certainly would do them differently.  I learned some valuable life lessons.  What’s done is done.  I just want to move forward and hope that others can learn from my mistakes.

I want to publicly thank my mom and dad and my brothers and sisters, as well as all my friends who have always been there for me and continue to believe in me.

Cecily Connell
Newark