A Georgia boy who was 15 when he walked out of his high school and disappeared two years ago has been found, and a sheriff says “all indications” are that he’s been “happy and thriving.”

The sheriff says Aubrey Jayce Carroll, now 17, has been living under an alias as a barterer, using only cash to travel the western United States.

Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a Tuesday statement to news outlets that they wanted to arrange a reunion without sending Carroll back into hiding, but their plan was spoiled by a family member who warned Carroll.

The young man then contacted his mother in Griffin, Georgia, but their reunion was on his terms, including whom he spoke with and where he stayed.

(Associated Press, copyright 2018)