Florida law enforcement has located the founders of a shuttered Hot Springs microschool and the 11-year-old daughter of one of them, days after the woman’s father reported them missing amid a growing financial and regulatory mess back in Arkansas. Donna Witte, her husband Gregory Witte, and Donna’s daughter, Remi Johnson, were found safe in the Tampa Bay area, after Donna’s father filed a missing persons report with Hot Springs police on August 31.
The family was living at a home in the Tampa Bay suburbs, according to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Florida Highway Patrol Sergeant Steve Gaskins said Donna Witte was pulled over Thursday morning after a Flock Safety license plate reader flagged her vehicle. Florida Highway Patrol officers and local police then located both Donna and Gregory Witte in Tarpon Springs, while Florida agencies located all three members of the Witte family in Pasco County. A Tarpon Springs police officer confirmed everything was okay with Donna Witte, and florida law enforcement determined all parties checked out fine. Gaskins said there is no longer any search for Witte, and the family has since been removed from the missing persons database.
Tony Brummett, Donna Witte’s father, had reported his daughter and granddaughter missing the day after a state repayment deadline expired. Brummett had texted Donna Witte on August 28 about Dolly Parton’s death, but was unable to reach her or Remi afterward, and efforts to reach the Wittes by phone were unsuccessful Friday. A Hot Springs police officer who checked on the family’s former address found 802 Emory Street completely empty, and florida law enforcement later conducted a welfare check at the Wittes’ home in Holiday, Florida.
A School That Vanished Weeks Before Fall Classes
Nova Roots Academy, described as an inclusive microschool for neurodivergent and experiential learners, was housed at 802 Emory St. in Hot Springs and had enrolled 56 students for summer programming or the 2026-27 school year. The school was scheduled to start fall classes on August 20, but Donna and Gregory Witte told families in late July that Nova Roots Academy was closing, and the school shut down without warning that same month…