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Mother, Daughter Found

***UPDATED TUESDAY 1:52 A.M.***The Chariton County Sheriff confirms Rachel Koechner and Zoee Sandner were both found safe in Linn County.Devan Sandner was also with them, he was arrested for an outstanding warrant. Rachel was taken into custody for filing a false report related to this incident.Zoee is now in the custody of her grandmother, after she was handed over by child protective services.***UPDATED MONDAY 11:35 P.M.***Chariton County authorities have issued a notice for a missing mother and her young daughter.Rachel Koechner, 28, and Zoee Sandner, 4, were reported missing Thursday. But Friday morning, a clerk at the Nights Inn in Blue Springs handed the phone to a woman matching the description of Koechner, who then called the Chariton County Sheriffs Department.Deputies told ABC 17 News local law enforcement got to the motel about five minutes after the woman left with two others. Chariton County investigators remained in Blue Springs Monday night.Koechner’s family sat down with ABC 17 News Monday evening, as phones rang and Facebook messages beeped with support from family, friends and strangers across the country.”I want to see her face-to-face,” said Brenda Koechner, Rachel’s mother. “I can’t believe a text, I’m not sure I can even believe a phone call.”The family had been reaching out for help through Facebook, other social media and missing persons websites. Since they started a “Help Find Rachel and Zoee” page this weekend, it has grown to almost two thousand fans.”It’s overwhelming the things they’re saying and the positive attitude they’ve got, I just wish it would help,” Brenda said.Brenda Koechner isn’t a stranger to this feeling, either – she called it deja vu of the worst kind. In February 1988, her father went missing near Marceline. His remains were found in July 1989 by swimmers and investigators determined he had been caught in a flash flood while crossing a creek in his truck. She said nothing could prepare her for another missing family member.”I’m reaching out to myself [for help], saying ‘Hey, I’ve been there.’ Because I have,” she said.As immediate family members gathered in the living room, both of Rachel’s parents said they just wanted her to come home. Neither had any idea why she would have left and now feared she was being held against her will, especially after Monday’s episode at the Nights Inn.Rachel Koechner was last seen driving a charcoal gray, extended cab Ford F-150 with minor damage to the tailgate. It has a Missouri license 0PJ 718. She has brown hair and blue eyes, is 5’8″ tall and weighs 230 lbs. She also has a mushroom tattoo on her left ankle.Zoee Sandner has brown hair and blue eyes, is 4’0″ tall and weighs 63 lbs.Koechner is believed to have been heading to reconnect with an ex-husband, Devan Sandner. A warrant was issued for his arrest Monday on connection to forgery charges. But Sandner is no stranger to trouble with the law.While he and Koechner were married in 2007, Sandner was charged with domestic assault. The two divorced later that year.Sandner is 37 years old with brown eyes and stands 6’3″tall, weighing about 215 lbs.According to Brookfield police, the two were last seen on Thursday around 10 a.m. at the mother/grandmother’s home in Rothville, Mo. The truck was then seen leaving a residence in Brookfield, Mo. between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. the same day.Anyone who thinks they see Koechner or Sandner is asked to call the Chariton County Sheriff’s Department at 660-288-3277 or your local law enforcement.Stay with ABC 17 News and abc17news.com for updates on this story as they become available.

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