ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A teenager last seen heading to her New Hampshire school in March was found Monday working at a restaurant in St. Augustine Beach.

Laura Mackenzie, 18, is facing felony charges in New England. She left her hometown of Goffstown March 8 when she was due in court for a shoplifting charge.

Tuesday she appeared in court in St. Johns County, where she waived extradition, allowing her to be sent back to New Hampshire to face the charge against her.

Mackenzie's mother, Enid, said she was getting ready for work when she got the call she had been waiting for five months and "screamed for joy."

During the teen's absence the family had set up a website at findlaura.org to help locate her.

"We're so happy," Enid Mackenzie said. "I had no idea which direction she could have gone. I'm just glad that she's safe and well, and we all will be reunite very soon."

Investigators said they were tipped off Monday morning to Mackenzie's location. Police found her vehicle, the same one she drove in New Hampshire, and then her.

Stephanie Carpenter has been Mackenzie's roommate for the last two months. She said the teen didn't talk much about her family or personal life, and that she thought she was living there until she went to college.

"I think she was just nervous about going to school. She didn't know what school to go to. Her grandma just died, apparently. She just freaked out, didn't know what to do and came to Florida," Carpenter said.

"I was so scared, I didn't know what was going to happen," Mackenzie told a judge on Tuesday.

Channel 4's Dan Leveton reported that despite the teen's explanation, the judge admonished Mackenzie, calling her actions selfish.

Her parents said they're just happy she's safe.

"We lived by faith every day. We trusted that God had her under his wing," said Mackenzie's mother.

Mackenzie will be held without bond until she is picked up and taken home to New Hampshire.