PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A Pennsylvania mother who was thought to be dead after she went missing in 2002 is now in a Panhandle jail.

The Pensacola News Journal reported Friday that 53-year-old Brenda Heist is being held without bond at the Santa Rosa County jail for a probation violation.

Investigators launched an extensive search after she dropped her children off at school in 2002 and disappeared.

Heist went to the Key Largo police last month and told them she had decided to walk away from her family more than 10 years ago and that she was considered a missing person.

She was on probation in the Panhandle for using someone else's identification during a traffic stop.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.