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"They found her in the Wendy's by the Clifton Commons," he told Daily Voice around 5:30 p.m. "She's OK. She heading to Clara Maas Medical Center (in Belleville).
"A huge shout out to the Nutley and Clifton police departments."
It was a police officer's wife who spotted her, he said.
Morgan hadn't strayed far.
Her father, Richard Panzer, had confirmed that Morgan was spotted at least twice on Thursday on or near Route 3.
Once was near LA Fitness in Clifton around 5 p.m., Richard Panzer said.
Morgan was "approached by a man who let her know she was being looked for. She said she was going home and walked away," he said.
She also was seen by Clifton police on High Street in Nutley, her father said.
"The police were trying to catch her, but she ran," he said. "After extensive searching in a wooded area with dogs she was not found."
The scent took the dogs to the Tick Tock Diner, also on Route 3 in Clifton, Richard Panzer said. It ended there.
Authorities confirmed the sightings and said there was also a sighting at the Petco store near the diner. Several agencies have been searching extensively for the missing student.
"My daughter is scared and alone and outside in the elements for the second straight night," Richard Panzer said Friday.
"When you wake up this morning if you live in the Nutley/Clifton/Bloomfield area please be vigilant. Check your backyards and sheds for her, call 911, please don't let her leave your sight," he said. "She is probably in need of medical attention and needs to be found ASAP."
Her mother, Denise, had dropped Morgan off at Bergen Community College in Paramus around 9 a.m. Wednesday with plans to pick her up again following her two classes, he said.
That call never came.
Morgan's backpack and cellphone were found in the college cafeteria around noontime along with a note in the phone saying that she was leaving for three weeks and to not look for her, Richard Panzer said.
Video shows Morgan heading into the parking garage at Bergen Community College about an hour earlier, around 11 a.m., the anxious father said.
The 2021 Nutley High School graduate "possibly got in a car in the parking garage with an unknown person or persons," he said, adding that several apps on her phone had been deleted.
"She has never done this before," said Denise Panzer, who headed back to BCC to look for her daughter after the Find My Phone app showed her still there.
Her professors reported not seeing her in class, Richard Panzer added.
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