Officials reported that a 15-year-old girl who had been taken from her North Carolina home had been located nearly 500 miles away.
On March 29, the adolescent was taking classes online when her parents became aware of a “strange car” in their area. According to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, when the teen’s parents attempted to contact her, they were unable to do so and turned to deputies.
At a press briefing on April 6, Sgt. David Blake stated that he believed “substantial coercion” was engaged in the disappearance. According to reports, the child used social media, and an investigation led authorities to believe that two persons in Ohio and a third person in Pennsylvania were responsible.
The adolescent was later discovered safe in Bristol, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia, about a week after going missing. Later, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office in North Carolina, she was “reunited with her family.”
Elijah Deandre Kennedy, 28, is now accused of several crimes related to the teenager’s disappearance. Deputies left out his lawyer’s information in their news release.
During their news conference, officials withheld a lot of information regarding the case, citing an ongoing investigation.
The “suspect vehicle,” however, was alleged to have gone north on Interstate 85 and was thought to have out-of-state license plates by deputies when it was discovered close to the girl’s Silver Valley house.
Officials reported learning that the girl “had been on a chat platform interacting with multiple unknown individuals” during an investigation involving federal and state agencies. The family was very careful to supervise digital communication as much as possible, thus the means of communication was probably from a laptop she was using for schooling.
Kennedy is Accused of Kidnapping a Child and Restraint of a Minor
Kennedy is accused of kidnapping a child and restraint of a minor, both felonies. In a Facebook post, Kennedy’s surname name was misspelled as Kenney. According to the sheriff’s office’s response to McClatchy News, a federal indictment is also anticipated.
A 13-year-old who had been kidnapped from Texas was reportedly recovered in a locked outbuilding in Davidson County, North Carolina, less than a month prior, according to deputies, McClatchy News reported.
Almost 30 miles to the southeast of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is the Silver Valley region.
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