MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office announced on Friday afternoon that a 31-year-old father from Spring, Texas has been found safe after a mysterious disappearance.
Colby Richards had been missing since he first left his home on the morning of May 24.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said that he was walking in the area of Research Forest Drive and Kuykendahl Road in The Woodlands, about 3 miles away from Richards' home.
Richards is being evaluated by medics and a mental health unit.
Detectives say they will eventually speak with Richards about what led to his disappearance. The MCSO says that it will be "some time" before he is interviewed.
The case sparked interest across the country, with 14,000 people joining the Help Us Find Colby Richards Facebook page.
Richards' wife, Callie, noticed that her husband woke up early on May 24 around 5 a.m., but when he did not return to their bedroom to get ready for work, she got up to check on him, according to Colby's cousin, Allison Fox.
"He wasn't in the house, so she checked the backyard … and she noticed that the back gate was open, which was atypical. He never leaves the house that way, and they would never leave the gate open anyway because they have a dog and two small children," Fox told Fox News Digital.
Colby did not take his phone or wallet with him when he left his house that morning.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deployed search teams to the area and "found a water bottle of his near the trailhead in the wooded area with trails and stuff behind where they live," Fox said.
Volunteer searchers have been using an app to track the areas they cover to look for any signs of Richards.
Texas dad vanishes after wife makes odd discovery in backyard
Colby Richards has been missing since he apparently left home on May 24 without phone or wallet.
Richards had just started a new job as an electric distribution design technician at an engineering firm two months prior to his disappearance, according to his LinkedIn page.
His coworkers told family that he had appeared to be zoning out at his computer the Thursday before he went missing, Fox said. She shared the information with authorities, who have spoken with those who worked with Richards.
The MCSO thanked the community Montgomery County Search and Rescue, DPS, and volunteers who took part in the search.
FOX News contributed to this report.