Missing Youth Minister Found Alive

UPDATE - NBC's sister station in Charlotte, WCNC, reported that the youth minister that went missing this week was found in Asheville.

WCNC wrote Matt Hill, 26, was found at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday in Asheville, N.C.

Matt Hill, who disappeared on Tuesday, has been found in good health, Shona Sommerville, a spokesperson for the group that has been searching for him told NBC Washington. 

She wrote in a release:

"We can confirm that Matthew Hill has been found.  Matt is alive and unharmed. It is also now clear he left under his own will."

Metropolitan Police also confirmed Hill's reappearance.

The Charlotte Observer quoted Metro Police Lt. Ralph Neal saying: "He apparently didn't let anyone know where he was at...I guess he just wanted to get away."

A message on the Facebook page for Hill (which was taken down Sunday afternoon) said:

"We need to clarify. We confirm Matt has been found and is alive and unharmed. He also left on his own will. We don't have any answers. We praise God he is alive, but ask you continue to pray."

Sommerville has asked the public to refrain from contacting Hill's family today.  She also expressed thanks to Metropolitan Police.

Friends and family organized a massive coordinated search for the 26-year-old man over the last few days.  On Saturday they handed out pamphlets and looked for signs of him in places like Rock Creek Park.

The organizers of the search effort on Saturday said that they had raised $3,000, from donors as far away as the Netherlands.  On Sunday afternoon, Sommerville said the group was now uncertain about how to disperse these funds.

Hill moved to Washington last year to work in a church youth ministry, performing campus youth outreach.  On Tuesday morning, he dropped off a George Washington University student, Matthew Degioia, in Chinatown.

His car was ticketed near his apartment in Foggy Bottom around 11 a.m., and then his credit card was used shortly after in Arlington.

Check back with NBC Washington for more updates as the story unfolds.

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