Thanks for the update! I'm so happy to have this be the first thing I read this morning. And honestly, her mom sounds like a piece of work (to put it nicely)

If she's laying into you for "encouraging her to run away" you should lay into the mom about being a decent parent who doesn't raise kids who WANT to run away. Her reaction towards you shows a glimpse of how she probably treats her daughter. Like you said, you just can win with some people.

Still, you've done the right thing between teaching these kids amazing skills, to going out and finding her, and finally convincing her to come back to civilization. You sound like an amazing mentor and hopefully you don't let me lady with her own major issues drag you down with her negativity