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Missing California teenager Trinity Backus found dead, sheriff's office confirms

Missing teen Trinity Backus was found dead Friday afternoon half a mile away from her aunt's residence, where she was last seen leaving Wednesday night, in Nevada City, California.

A day after 16-year-old Trinity Backus was reported missing from northern California, the Nevada County Sheriff's Office reported she was tragically found dead not far from where she was last seen Wednesday night.

In a Facebook post, the sheriff's office said search and rescue teams located the missing teen's body shortly after 2 p.m. on Friday. 

She was found approximately half a mile north of her aunt's residence, which was in a "very heavily wooded river drainage area," the sheriff's office said.

NCSO said there is "nothing suspicious" about her death at this point. 

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Backus' cause of death is unknown, but the coroner's division will be conducting an investigation and an autopsy.

"We have been in communication with the family and extend our deepest condolences to them as they work through this loss," NCSO wrote on Facebook. "We ask that you please respect their privacy."

The sheriff's office also expressed a "deep appreciation" for the hundreds of volunteers from agencies throughout northern California that participated in the search.

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Backus was reported missing on Thursday after no one had heard from her since she left her aunt's house around 10:30 p.m. PT Wednesday. She was last seen wearing her pajamas and a maroon robe, and without shoes.

"We're lost, sad, heartbroken … worried out of our minds," the teen's aunt, Ashley Bjorklund, told Fox News Digital earlier on Friday.

Backus was having a sleepover with a friend at Bjorklund's home on Kentucky Ravine Road — a 12-acre property in Nevada City, California — when she disappeared. 

It's not clear why she left the home.

Fox News' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.

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