A young teen-age girl is home safe today after hours of fear and anxiety for her parents and workfor two police agencies Friday night.
The parents’ nightmare began when the father arrived home to discover that his 13-year-olddaughter was not home. It ended almost three hours later when police in Joplin, Mo., found her safe in an apartment in Joplin.
She had apparently been exchanging texts with a man in Joplin, Mo., although police said her original contact with him has not yet been determined.
Friday evening when the girl’sfather arrived home from work, he learned she hadn’t ridden the bus home. The parents contacted school officials who contacted Pea Ridge police.
The investigation, which included interviewing the last persons to see the girl, checking school survellience cameras and checking the girl’s phone records, revealed that the girl was possibly with a man from the Joplin area. The father found records of hundreds of text messages on the girl’s cell phone from a telephone registered to a man in Joplin, Mo.
Pea Ridge police contacted Joplin police who went to the apartment where the man lived and found the girl. The man, James Andrew Morey, was not there.
The girl was taken to Joplin, Mo., Youth Dentention Center andlater to the Children’s Center of Southwest Missouri.
Morey, 33, was found, arrested for kidnapping, and is being held in the Joplin Jail Tuesday in lieu of a $100,000 cash bond.
After being interviewed, the girl was returned to her parents.
“We’re very fortunate that we found her as soon as we did,” Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said. “The Joplin authorities wereextremely cooperative and very eager to help.”
Police warned parents to be watchful of their children’s social media contacts and warn the children about potential dangers.
School superintendent Rick Neal said students should be wary of communicating with strangers and parents should monitor their children’s social media carefully.
News, Pages 1 on 11/07/2012