Missing Athens woman found in Florida

MIAMI - A 25-year-old Athens woman who had been missing nearly a month has been found alive in Florida.

According to reports, Ivy Dawn Merck was found in Miami and reunited with her parents on Saturday. The Camden County Sheriff's Department did not release details of how she was located.

The department had been looking for her since Aug. 23 when she drove from her home in Athens to her hometown of Kingsland, but never showed up at her parents' home. Her car was later found abandoned in Deerfield Beach, Fla., with notes left for her parents and roommate saying that she needed to work out some personal problems.

A Facebook page set up to help with the search now displays messages calling her safe return ``an answered prayer.''