NEW LONDON

After spending more than three weeks holed up in a New London apartment with no air-conditioning or running water, 17-year-old Abbi Obermiller had a tearful reunion with her parents in court on Wednesday.

Police found the North Fairfield teen less than 12 miles from her home, hiding in an attic at 2271/2 E. Main St.

Her boyfriend, Robert J. "Bobby" Young, 20, rented the apartment about the same time Abbi's grandparents reported her missing June 7 from their house in Norwalk.

Young is in Huron County jail facing charges of falsification and obstructing official business. Abbi was taken to the Erie County detention center after a brief hearing, Huron County juvenile court administrator Chris Mushett said.

Abbi faces an unruly charge and a delinquency charge of obstructing official business, a second-degree misdemeanor.

Her disappearance attracted national attention, with her parents pleading for help on TV networks including HLN and CNN in an interview with Nancy Grace.

Officials received an anonymous tip from someone who saw Young coming and going from the apartment late at night. The tipster noticed the windows were always closed and blinds down, even in the daytime heat.

Police had already been monitoring the apartment.

Norwalk police and Huron County Sheriff's deputies obtained a warrant and forced their way through the door early Wednesday after no one answered.

When they questioned Young inside the apartment, he became defensive, saying he'd had no contact with Abbi and didn't know why police were harassing him, sheriff's Capt. Ted Patrick said.

Police continued to search the house and discovered Abbi huddled in the attic.

She and her boyfriend were using 2-gallon jugs of water to drink and flush the toilet.

"That's a rough three weeks, as far as I'm concerned," New London police Chief Michael Marko said.

Jim Obermiller, Abbi's father, said it was an emotional time for him, his wife and Abbi's six older siblings, but they're all relieved to know she's safe.

"I think she's sorry she ever started this," he said.

The Obermillers talked with Abbi briefly at the New London police station, but had a longer visit with her after the court hearing.

Although police received tips from people who believed they saw Abbi around New London, she told her parents she'd never left the apartment.

Her boyfriend left her there alone for days at a time, she told them, with a cell phone that had no batteries and a TV set that wasn't hooked up. She had no contact with the outside world and hadn't seen the local and national news reports about her, Jim said.

In the meantime, Young reportedly stayed at his sister's apartment and allowed officials to search it at one point.

Red flags

Abbi and Young started dating last August, after meeting through a family friend. Their first meeting, in fact, was at the Huron County Fair.

Jim Obermiller said Young seemed nice at the time. He went to church, played baseball and was involved in a youth group.

Jim and Rose were a little concerned about the age difference between them -- Young was 19 then, and Abbi only 16 -- but they allowed them to go out to movies or baseball games.

But Abbi's parents grew concerned as the dates became longer and more frequent.

Soon, Abbi was spending more time with him than with her friends, whom Young didn't like. And Young didn't approve of a trip Abbi took to New York with friends from her choir.

"He was constantly trying to separate her from friends and family," Jim said.

When the Obermillers tried to limit the time Abbi spent with Young, she rebelled.

On May 27, the last day of school, she started staying at her grandparents' house on Prospect Street in Norwalk.

Police traced text messages between her and her boyfriend in the hours before she left the house early on June 7.

The two appeared to be arranging for someone to pick Abbi up and take her to New London. But after she first disappeared, investigators found no activity from her cell phone.

Her family and friends grew increasingly worried.

On Father's Day, they hosted a prayer vigil for her at South Central High School in Greenwich. Abbi had just finished her junior year there and was a straight-A student who dreamed of becoming an oncologist.

As she spent her days locked away in the apartment, she thought about her family and considered calling one of her older sisters, she told her parents Wednesday.

Abbi told her parents Young tried to convince her to cut her hair, dye it blonde and run away with him to Detroit, where he had friends.

"She told him no, she wasn't going to do that," Jim said. "But as much sway as he's had over her, I don't know if she might have eventually gone."

Back to normal

After the Obermillers plastered posters around town and word of Abbi's disappearance spread throughout the country, friends and neighbors were relieved to hear she'd been found.

"I'm just thankful she's not hurt," said Stephanie Blair, a family friend. "People were starting to have their doubts."

No one was home Wednesday afternoon at the Obermiller's quaint home on East Main Street in North Fairfield, where wind chimes and baskets of purple pansies hung from the porch, but several cars were parked along the street.

Television appearances and dozens of calls kept the family busy.

"I'm glad to hear she's safe," neighbor Jewell Lewis said. "We were all starting to worry."

No one was home at the duplex where Young and Abbi had stayed, and a phone number for Young's mother in Norwalk had been disconnected.

Although Abbi's parents want her to face consequences for her actions, they said they want to see her go back to her life as a typical teenager as soon as possible.

In the meantime, they'll visit her once a week in the detention home.

Abbi's friends and teachers will play an important role in helping to restore normalcy to her life in the months to come, Jim said.

"The police and the media did their work; now it's time for the school and counselors to do theirs," he said. "Our goal is to get her back on the right track. I really don't want to lock her down ... she's a young woman, but there's still some little girl left in her."

Read previous postings here.